Major Irish Bank - Cheque Archive

The Client’s cheque imaging system reduced the cost and time taken to perform the task of clearing, but the images were stored on microfilm which raised a number of security and interoperability issues.

The Client:
The Client is one of the largest and oldest commercial banking operations in Ireland. As a diversified financial services group it enjoys market leading positions in its chosen domestic markets.

The Process:
Cheque image hosted archive.

The Challenge:
The Client’s cheque imaging system reduced the cost and time taken to perform the task of clearing, but the images were stored on microfilm which raised a number of security and interoperability issues. Document retrieval was a manual, centralised process requiring individual branches to send copy requests to operators within the central query management centre.

One of more than twenty retrieval staff had to manually locate microfilm from the library, obtain copies, then dispatch them by post to the requesting branch. Each request took between 24 and 48 hours to fulfil, customer service was impeded and the quality of retrieved images could vary significantly.

The Solution:
The Client awarded BancTec a two-year contract to replace the microfilm library with a hosted digital archive at BancTec’s BPO Service facility in Blanchardstown, near Dublin. The archive is also mirrored at the BancTec Harlow facility in Essex, providing seamless backup continuity in the event of a disaster. The archive receives around 500,000 items daily and is capable of storing up to six years worth of images.

Branch staff have direct, instant access to images stored in the archive, via the web-based interface, and can immediately provide copies of cheques as well as make lending and pay/no-pay decisions. It ensures customer records are completely secure and customer care is always delivered at a high level.

The Benefits:
The Client now has one of the most advanced, secure item processing archive solutions in the industry. The Client has also gained reduced costs and significant improvements in the quality of retrieved images. Staff no longer have to manually locate microfilm from their internal library reducing the time taken to deal with branch requests. In addition, the Client has eliminated all capital outlay and on-going technology upgrades, and by dealing with BancTec the deployment timescale was significantly shorter than competitive offerings.

"BancTec has a long, proven track record of providing high-volume, business critical information services and hosted archives across secure BPO Service operations situated across the globe."