Fiserv Expands Check Fraud Detection Services with Outsourced FraudGuard Secure Seal Positive Pay
Fiserv Expands Check Fraud Detection Services with Outsourced FraudGuard Secure Seal Positive Pay
May 11, 2005
Fiserv's FraudGuard Secure Seal Positive Pay product is in use at Grand Bank in Dallas, Texas, and will soon be rolled out in Fiserv's 51 check processing facilities across the country. The move gives smaller financial institutions access to a value-add service traditionally used primarily by larger banks, said Ted Umhoefer, senior vice president of market development for the Fiserv Item Processing Group.
"Positive Pay is one of the best check fraud prevention tools in the industry today. FraudGuard Secure Seal Positive Pay now allows smaller institutions to provide a similar service without investing in new infrastructure," Umhoefer said.
Secure Seal is a technology that securely hides issue file data - such as payee name, account and check number, and dollar amount - on the face of the check. Fiserv has partnered with several suppliers of both software and hardware to encode the Secure Seal, which can be printed on the check as a logo, border or other design. During processing by the Fiserv Positive PayPLUS system, information from the Secure Seal is compared with the check image, providing full positive-pay verification to detect any alterations or counterfeits.
Richard Hanes, executive vice president at Grand Bank, said the bank is always looking for products and services that can build Grand Bank's reputation as a contributor to the success of its clients.
"Businesses want better preventative measures to protect them from check fraud," Hanes said. "The best solutions are provided through technology. We believe FraudGuard Secure Seal Positive Pay provides that solution and allows us to offer an enhanced service. By partnering with Fiserv, Grand Bank is better able to leverage technology by providing the SecureSeal product as well as other products. Our goal is to apply technology in a way that allows us to develop products that contribute to the success of our clients. With Fiserv's knowledge, experience and resources, we are able to improve service to our clients and establish ourselves as an industry leader."
FraudGuard Secure Seal Positive Pay complements Fiserv's Digital Signature Verification service - a product that analyzes signatures to help detect check fraud and was introduced in 2004. FraudGuard Positive Pay Plus with Secure Seal, the in-house version of the Secure Seal product, is used by some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including the U.S. Treasury, to detect check fraud. FraudGuard Positive Pay Plus with Secure Seal is available for in-house use through Fiserv's Imagesoft unit.
Fiserv is North America's largest third-party check processing provider, annually handling more than 4.5 billion checks for more than 1,500 clients. In addition, the company's Information Technology, Inc. (ITI) and Fiserv Imagesoft units provide image-based check processing software used by more than 1,000 additional financial institutions to process checks in-house. Fiserv operates 51 check-processing centers across the U.S., another 12 in Canada and Australia, and a U.S. image archive that adds nearly 7 million check images each day.
Fiserv, Inc. (Nasdaq:FISV) provides information management systems and services to the financial and health benefits industries, including transaction processing, outsourcing, business process outsourcing and software and systems solutions. The company serves more than 16,000 clients worldwide, including banks, credit unions, financial planners/investment advisers, insurance companies and agents, self-insured employers, lenders and savings institutions. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., Fiserv reported $3.4 billion in processing and services revenues for 2004.
Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the U.S. financial services industry in the 2004 FinTech 100 survey by the American Banker newspaper and the Financial Insights research firm. Fiserv can be found on the Internet at www.fiserv.com.