Check/Check 21 Services

FedReceipt^® Plus for Returns: The final frontier

April 2009

The Federal Reserve Banks have expanded the suite of Check 21-enabled Services with the addition of FedReceipt Plus for Returns. This service provides the bank of first deposit (BOFD) with an electronic file of items being returned by paying banks, including items that have been deposited with the Federal Reserve Banks in an image return letter and all paper return items received by the Reserve Banks that are imageable.

“We’re very pleased to bring FedReceipt Plus for Returns to market,” states Fred Herr, senior vice president in the Federal Reserve Banks’ Retail Payments Office. “We’ve worked diligently to deliver service offerings that provide customers the opportunity to become electronic from end to end.”

Benefits are even greater with complete electronic processing

To achieve an entirely electronic payments system, every financial institution needs to utilize electronic deposit and receipt. While the payments industry is quickly moving in this direction, it isn’t there yet. However, FedReceipt Plus for Returns provides financial institutions with a solution to convert the paper in the system into an electronic format, offering customers the opportunity to operate electronic check shops from beginning to end, while taking full advantage of the benefits inherent in electronic check processing, including:

• Minimizing exposure to risk
• Streamlining backroom operations
• Improving quality
• Speeding the returns process as files are typically received earlier

The 100+ financial institutions using FedReceipt Returns have indicated strong interest in total image processing. Using FedReceipt Returns, financial institutions have been able to realize the benefits listed above. Now, with FedReceipt Plus for Returns, these benefits will be even greater since more items can be electronic throughout the payments process.

Minimizing exposure to risk through more expeditious electronic return processing is another frequently cited benefit of an electronic process from beginning to end. “When we receive the image return file early in the morning, we distribute the items immediately nationwide,” explains Tony Ganey, process design consultant for Bank of America. “This tremendous advantage allows us to process and memo post those items earlier than we had before FedReceipt Returns. Customer accounts are memo debited the same day we receive the file and hard debited overnight. All of this reduces our return item risk,” Ganey added.

“We deliver better returns with fewer errors and better image quality due to the removal of the manual process associated with these items,” reports Sheri Habermehl, returns manager at Arvest Bank, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Reducing the manual process associated with return item processing also helps reduce staffing costs.

Getting started

The addition of FedReceipt Plus for Returns to the Federal Reserve Banks’ Check 21-enabled services supports the potential for financial institutions to become virtually all-electronic check shops. Financial institutions can leverage their experience with FedReceipt to implement FedReceipt Plus for Returns, as much of the setup process is similar, which should help streamline the implementation process. 

To learn how FedReceipt Plus for Returns can enhance your organization’s electronic processing objectives, contact your account executive.

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