News

CIT releases electronic check-image endorsement solution

May 8, 2005

LAS VEGAS - Cheq Information Technology Inc. released StencilFont, an image-endorsement software package for financial institutions and commercial corporations, according to a news release. The software electronically paints visible text and graphic endorsement information into the check back image. It supports depositor endorsement, bank of first deposit endorsement, and trace line and other data.

The appearance of the endorsement information in the image corresponds to ANSI X.9 specifications for the placement and appearance of endorsements on paper. The software operates on bi-tonal, grayscale, and color images. Its use guarantees information in check images and any reproduction in IRD form, and the information cannot be decoupled from the check image. It reduces the likelihood for a retrieval request for the original check and enables front-end deposit process controls and security mechanisms that are otherwise absent.

"Over two years ago, as we were discussing implications of Check 21 image clearance in the context of highly distributed, deposit capture, we realized that the traditional endorsement information as inked onto a check back remained important," said CIT's chief information officer, Dr. William Wheeler. "We concluded the functions it served in the paper world would be inadequately met by mere data in the image world. But if you continued to print endorsements in advance of image capture, they were even less legible in the image than they traditionally have been on paper, creating additional problems. And in the case of distributed capture, a multi-line endorsement printer greatly increases cost, not to mention smeared ink onto the contact image sensor. And, worst of all, as any check processing operations manager knows, even in the presence of constant attention by an on-site technician, an IJP is the least reliable device on any check transport. The thought of a deposit process done by tellers in remote branches that was critically dependent upon legible inkjet printing was frightening."

"We view StencilFont as an important addition to both teller and corporate capture and are seeking protection for related intellectual property. Much has been said about the quality of the front of the check but the endorsement area is equally important," said John V. Ashley, CIT's chief executive.