Check Image Volume Sets Record In November

SVPCO-Electronic Services, the electronic check and check image exchange business of The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C., today reported that check image volume posted substantial increases in November and set new records as image exchange and settlement continued to grow rapidly through the SVPCO Image Payments Network.

The Image Payments Network is the nation’s private-sector volume leader in image payments by dollar value and total number of items, according to publicly available information.

For November, SVPCO reported the following data for the Image Payments Network:

• $3.1 billion in daily average dollar value, an increase of 27 percent compared to October 2005
• $61 billion in total monthly dollar value, an increase of 27 percent compared to October 2005
• 438,000 in daily average items, an increase of 38 percent compared to October 2005
• 8.8 million in total monthly items, an increase of 38 percent compared to October 2005
• The peak day in November was $6.1 billion in dollar value and 749,000 items
• Nine banks were exchanging images, in addition to significant volume being exchanged through the network’s connection to the Federal Reserve and EDS.

In January 2005, when the Image Payments Network began operations, daily average dollar value was $2.6 million, total monthly dollar value was $55 million, daily average items were 850, and total monthly items were 18,000. Two banks were exchanging images through the Image Payments Network in January 2005.

Beginning with November’s data, SVPCO will publicly report image volume through the Image Payments Network each month. Historical data can be found at www.svpco.com.

“The November volume records are a continuation of the exponential growth rate that the Image Payments Network has experienced since it began operations 11 months ago,” said George Thomas, Executive Vice President of The Clearing House. “No other private-sector image system in the U.S. can match the amount of image exchange production volume, the ability to settle payments through a single, integrated system or the capacity to exchange image payments with any institution in the country because it is the only network connected to the Federal Reserve.”

Susan Long, Senior Vice President and head of SVPCO-Electronic Clearing Services. “In November, we saw more institutions present cash-letters mid- day, thus eliminating an entire day from the settlement process. Improved settlement is one of the long-promised benefits of image processing, and we’re pleased to see a growing number of institutions reduce risk and expedite clearing through our automated exchange and settlement capabilities.”

The Image Payments Network is a single, end-to-end system that provides unparalleled control, security and processing efficiency for transmitting and settling check images and other data directly between participants in the industry. The network enables financial institutions to exchange and settle check images peer-to-peer, without a cumbersome central processing system, thereby eliminating the expense of transporting physical checks.

Through November, institutions participating in the Image Payments Network were Bank of America, Comerica Bank, Fifth Third, JPMorgan Chase & Co., KeyCorp, National City Corp., UnionBanCal Corp, Wachovia Corp., and Wells Fargo. Through its relationship with the Federal Reserve, the Image Payments Network can reach more than 10,000 endpoints and help financial institutions of all sizes take advantage of image exchange.