CheckFree Introduce e-Check Bridge

By comparing original check information to the electronic transaction, e-Check Bridge mitigates risk and bridges the gap between the Automated Clearing House (ACH) processing platform, check reconcilement and positive pay fraud detection systems in corporate check conversion. The conversion of check-based consumer bill payments into ACH transactions, also referred to as accounts receivable conversion (ARC), has experienced unprecedented growth among all ACH transaction codes. In 2004, 1.25 billion ARC transactions were processed, representing 488 percent annual growth, according to NACHA. While corporate checks are not eligible for conversion under current ACH operating rules, many checks drawn off of corporate accounts are physically similar to consumer bill payment checks. Today, corporate checks are often inadvertently converted, and with transaction volumes continuing to climb, the number of converted corporate checks is projected steadily increase. Solving The Business-to-Business Check Conversion Challenge CheckFrees expertise in reconciliation and positive pay enabled the company to design a module that easily integrates into financial institutions systems, and provides integration between CheckFree PEP+ and CheckFree ARP/SMS. This solution blends the ACH and ARP processes and offers the following benefits: - Reducing risk exposure - e-Check Bridge enables financial institutions to tie together Automated Clearing House (ACH) processing platforms with check reconcilement and positive pay fraud detection systems to address industry-wide banking and corporate concerns over corporate check conversion. - Automating positive pay, exception management and reporting - Converting checks to electronic transactions can generate a significant number of exceptions that need to be manually reconciled. With e-Check Bridge, converted transactions are easily identified and automatically matched to the check issue information on file. Suspect items can then be sent to companies for their approval. - Improving reconciliation - With e-Check Bridge, electronic checks are uniquely identified in CheckFree ARP/SMS, enabling the bank to provide companies with an accurate statement of their account status and position.