SWCFCU Remote Deposit Program notches 350th CU
Bank’s exit from CU market is catalyst for Odessa ECU’s decision
DALLAS – Sheila Kelly, manager of $8.3 million Odessa Employees Credit Union in Odessa, Texas, had been evaluating the requirements for electronic image capture of deposit items for more than a year. In fact, at a meeting of small credit unions a couple of months prior to receiving “the letter,” she had been urged to give the service serious consideration. Day-to-day demands on a five-person staff, however, kept the issue from becoming a priority. That changed the day Odessa ECU received a letter from the national bank they used for deposits saying it would close all 60+ of the bank’s credit union deposit accounts in 30 days.
Kelly contacted Southwest Corporate Federal Credit Union about moving their deposit account and implementing branch capture at the same time. “I was panicking because of the 30-day notification. The bank eventually granted us an extension, but Southwest Corporate was gracious and pushed through our implementation within the timeframe,” she said. “We knew we needed to put the branch capture system in place. We just hadn’t counted on scrambling to get it done.”
Odessa ECU is the 350th credit union to sign onto Southwest Corporate’s remote deposit services program.
“Lots of credit unions are now saving lots of money by processing checks electronically,” said Jody Beck, senior vice president of Operations for Southwest Corporate. “Remote deposit services is a product that has essentially doubled during the past year. And I think it is important to point out that this is a service that didn’t even exist three-to-four years ago.”
With the program, a small scanner captures check images – either at the credit union, at an ATM or at a credit union member’s business – and transmits those images to a central processing facility. Remote deposit software provides instant verification of image quality, balances the transactions and sends the check images to Southwest Corporate, where they are archived for online member access.
One of the greatest benefits of check imaging is elimination of the time and money spent on encoding checks. Data completion is handled by Southwest Corporate. Check imaging also can improve funds availability for credit unions and their members.
“Capturing deposit transactions at the point of entry has other advantages,” Beck said. Real-time processing facilitates faster identification of fraudulent activity and customer deposit errors. Digital storage of transactions reduces the opportunity for checks to become lost during transport and eliminates the need for microfilming.
“There’s no question that branch capture has saved us time,” Kelly said after 30 days on the program, “and I like the almost immediate credit we receive on everything deposited. I know that will allow us to earn more on our funds.”
Remote deposit efficiencies also reduce expenses related to postage and courier services needed to transport checks from branch locations, and real-time processing facilitates faster identification of fraudulent activity and customer deposit errors. Digital storage of transactions reduces the opportunity for checks to become lost during transport and eliminates the need for microfilming.
As Southwest Corporate has a dedicated Remote Deposit Implementation Team--a feature not available from all remote deposit providers--credit unions can determine their implementation timetable; there is no backlog. Credit unions schedule when it is convenient for them, and Southwest Corporate can meet that timetable.
Following up implementation, Southwest Corporate provided responsive training, according to Kelly. “The training, which was all done over the phone, went very smoothly. Our association may have started with an unfortunate circumstance, but it worked out. It’s a good feeling to know we are with Southwest Corporate. As a one-stop shop, they’ve made our lives easier.”