STRATEGIC PARTNERS
February 16, 2003
PLANO, Texas -- EDS says that it has automated the daily credit union process for balancing debit card and ATM network transaction totals -- transforming what has traditionally been a daily manual process taking hours to one that now can occur electronically and be completed in minutes.
According to a news release, the fully automated debit card and ATM network balancing process is designed to work directly within credit unions' core systems.
"We can now balance the activity for our 14,600 cardholder accounts and five ATMs in 20 minutes -- a process that used to take the better part of a day for one employee," said Bob Blacklock, controller for Olin Community Credit Union, a $270 million credit union and beta site for EDS' automated balancing product.
Typically, the ATM and network balancing process is manual and unique to each credit union. Transaction data is routed to an EDS-hosted core credit union system, where the transactions are posted to member accounts and appropriate general ledger entries made.
However, each POS and ATM transaction routes through a variety of networks each business day, and each member's financial institution is responsible for reconciling and balancing individual transaction totals and all the third-party organizations that touched each transaction.
According to the release, EDS has standardized and automated the process by fully digitizing the workflow required to balance transaction totals and reconcile general ledger accounts.
Automated debit card and ATM network balancing cuts the processing time from up to a full day for a large credit union down to a few minutes.
In addition, automating the balancing process creates a uniform audit trail and standardizes the process so that training and product support is more efficient.
Suzie Hill, systems analyst for Tucoemas Federal Credit Union, a $145 million institution located in Visalia, Calif., said in the release that her credit union's daily balancing process has been reduced from 3 hours to 20 minutes per day for more than 10,000 active cardholders and nine ATMs.
"We have been able to train more people in the department since it takes about three days to feel totally comfortable with automated balancing versus about two weeks for training using the manual method," Hill said.
According to the release, EDS currently provides IT services -- including Web- and PC-based electronic banking, debit cards and ATM services to more than 1,500 credit unions.
