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Community Bank Enters The World of Check 21
By Susan Dove
You have probably heard some talk in the media about “Check 21”. In October of 2004 the Federal Reserve implemented “Check 21” allowing banks to truncate items, not drawn on their customers, at the point of first deposit. In other words it is possible for a check to never leave the bank of first deposit. In it’s place the financial institution can send an image of the check on to be paid by the payee bank. You may have already seen, what the industry refers to as, a substitute check. A substitute check is produced when the payee bank is unable to accept the image for payment and therefore needs a paper check presented.
We at Community Bank were very excited about “Check 21” and felt it would be a benefit to venture into the “Check 21” venue. To prepare for the implementation we first needed to be sure we had a reliable image system in place so in January of 2005 we installed new imaging software developed by Summit Financial Systems. The choice to use this software was not taken lightly. After viewing several products we felt they had a product that was easy to use as well as backed by a reliable support staff. In addition their product interfaced with the bank core processor virtually seamless. In early July of 2005 we began the testing phase of sending image files to the Federal Reserve and on July 25th we began live transmission of these image files. In October of 2005 we began testing of the next phase of “Check 21”, that being the receipt of our customers checks, deposited at other institutions, via image. Going live on October 27th, 2005, one day short of “Check 21’s” one-year anniversary. Sending returns imaged was then achieved on November 3rd, 2005. With the completion of this final phase we at Community Bank were one of the very first in the nation to use all three of the products surrounding “Check 21” from the Federal Reserve. We were then choosen as the subject of a video produced by the Federal Reserve which can be viewed by clicking this link to the Federal Reserves website of case studies.
In these days of rising fuel costs the savings of such an undertaking can prove to be substantial. The need to transport the actual check from point A to point B is eliminated as well as the risk of something happening to them in transit. These items can be transported via secure Internet channels at a substantial cost savings. Security has always been in the forefront of any project we at Community Bank have undertaken, this case being critical in the protection of customer information. We have taken every precaution to assure that security in the transport of the image files will not be breached.
To conclude I would like to say that taking this advance forward in the ever changing world of banking will prove only to be a benefit to the bank as well as you our customers. We look forward to serving you even better in the future.
April 11th, 2006: Community Bank of Cameron Appoints New President
The Board of Directors appointed Ted Gerber as bank President.
