Company Profile: RemitPro

The system leads to improved cash flow, a reduction in financial fraud and lower administrative costs.

The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, also known as Check 21, gives a substitute check the same legal validity as the original paper check. This legislation paved the way for eRemitPro, remote deposit capture technology that is easily implemented with a desktop check scanner, a workstation check imaging program and a link to the RemitPro website. With the system – which can be deployed in a centralized or distributed environment – checks are converted into electronic transmissions and sent to a single depository account.

Other features of eRemitPro include:

• Transmission to the bank of choice
• A configurable data entry screen
• End-to-end integration with A/R systems
• Online real-time management reports featuring search, view, print and download capabilities
• Detailed pending and cleared deposit reporting

The process allows for faster settlement, improved funds availability, accelerated notice of NSF and reduced banking and transaction fees. It also decreases processing costs, eliminates paperwork and physical trips to the bank and reduces financial fraud.

Case Study: Stifel Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated

Established in 1890, Stifel Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated, is a full-service brokerage and investment banking firm based in St. Louis, Missouri.

With more than 115 offices in 26 states and the District of Columbia, company officials were looking for a way to take advantage of new legislation that offered the possibility of improved funds availability and greater operational efficiency.

“When Congress passed the Check 21 Act, we realized that all of our funds could be transmitted electronically,” said Curt Stalter, Treasury Manager at Stifel Nicolaus. “We evaluated several systems and determined that RemitPro’s application is a very powerful, flexible tool that will deliver efficiencies to our operation. It just made sense for us to take advantage of their technology solutions.”

Stifel Nicolaus rolled out the service in approximately two-thirds of its branch offices in June, July and August of 2005. The rest of the branch offices began using the eRemitPro application last spring.

• Each client check is now run through a desktop scanning device to capture its image and MICR line (routing number, account number and check serial number).
• The account number and dollar amount are captured by the eRemitPro application.
• The check image and MICR line information are then routed to RemitPro for processing and deposit in one central account.
• Once RemitPro receives a transaction, it becomes available for viewing on the eRemitPro secure website.

“The system saves both time and money,” Stalter said. “Our branch cashiers no longer have to physically take daily deposits to the bank. But it’s also more than a just a bank system. The eRemitPro application was adapted to interact with our company’s back office system, so it also automatically posts each transaction to our records.”

Because deposits are no longer made at local banks, the company was able to reduce banking fees by eliminating approximately 40 accounts nationwide. Electronic transmission also leads to faster settlement, which has reduced the amount of time deposits are held as uncollected cash in bank accounts.

“Prior to using eRemitPro, 1.7 days of deposits were held as uncollected cash – either because the checks hadn’t cleared or the deposits were scattered in banks across the country,” Stalter said. “Now, it’s down to about 1.35 days of deposits, which is an improvement of about 24 percent.”

Stalter added that while there were upfront equipment costs, the system has already paid for itself.

“We’ve been very happy with the results,” Stalter said. “I would recommend RemitPro to any company that has multiple sites making deposits.”

Case Study: Legent Clearing

Legent Clearing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Legent Group, is a leading independent provider of correspondent clearing services. Based in Omaha, Nebraska, it provides access to investment products such as equities, mutual funds, foreign securities, fixed income investments, prime brokerage, options, annuities, DVP/RVP and WRAP accounts through a variety of online tools and platforms.

A desire to add speed and efficiency to their operation led Legent Clearing to RemitPro. Company officials say the faster, more secure electronic service is a tremendous benefit to Legent correspondents.

“With eRemitPro, our correspondents are able to make deposits into a single depository account – no matter where they are located,” said Jeff Sime, president of Legent Clearing. “We were able to close all of the local bank accounts that had been opened for our existing correspondents, and we no longer have to go through the process of establishing local accounts for our new correspondents.”

eRemitPro is highly configurable, so the application was designed to meet the specific needs of Legent Clearing. Sime said the solution is quick to deploy, easy to use and requires very little IT support.

“RemitPro offers the necessary support during set-up, and we do have a training process for our correspondents,” Sime said. “Once they’re trained, our correspondents are able to save a lot of time by using the system. They no longer have to enter information into the check log, fill out the deposit slip and take the deposit to the bank. All they have to do is run the check through the scanner and add a little data. It really is a one-touch process.”

Sime said the eRemitPro solution also leads to improved collection on checks. He estimates that Legent Clearing has seen an improvement of about one full day on check collection.

“We’re very pleased with the results,” he said. “I would certainly recommend the eRemitPro solution because of the ease of implementation and the efficiency it creates.”

RiskAlert

RemitPro also offers RiskAlert – a software solution that addresses the requirements of the USA Patriot Act by providing identity validation for individuals or businesses as well as background verification of prospective employees.

The Consumer Validation Module of RiskAlert provides a consistent process that crosschecks an individual’s identity against multiple databases, including OFAC screening. A configurable grading engine creates results that are displayed as pass, fail or review. The reports can be viewed/worked or uploaded for integration into current back office systems.

With the Business and Institutional Validation Module, RemitPro uses a database of more than 25 million businesses, including 18 million Tax Identification Numbers, to offer complete coverage. Results are displayed via web reports.

The Background Verification Module provides detailed information on licenses, college degrees and criminal records to assist companies in making employment or new account applicant decisions. RiskAlert’s online reports include a unique “snapshot” screen that provides both summary information and the ability to drill down into a detailed record.

For more information about RemitPro, visit the website at www.remitpro.com. For a free demonstration of eRemitPro or RiskAlert, call 877.861.0005 ext. 101 or send an e-mail to info@remitpro.com.