Friday, September 14, 2012

What Are the Benefits of Remote Deposit Capture for Businesses?

Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) is a process that uses bank check scanners to create digital images of checks, which are used in place of paper checks. By eliminating manual check processing and the physical transportation of checks between financial institutions and their customers, RDC offers businesses the following benefits, among others.

Faster Clearing Time

RDC allows businesses to capture check deposits in the branch location without transporting checks to the branch. By eliminating the need to transport the documents to the branch location, RDC allows businesses to process more checks in a given period. Ultimately, the ability to process a higher volume of checks is representative of a faster clearing time.

Improved availability of funds

A faster clearing time results in improved availability of funds. Instead of waiting days for funds to appear in accounts, businesses often see the funds on the same or the next business day. For example, research shows that image processing results in a ninety-five percent next-day availability in "transit" items (items that are beyond the Federal Reserve District), which is especially valuable in the case of high-value checks.

Improved cash flow

Using remote deposit capture to achieve a faster clearing time and improved availability of funds results in improved cash flow. The financial benefit of improved cash flow can be calculated by using a business' Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC), which is the return the business gets on every dollar it invests. Improved cash flow often results in an annual financial benefit of thousands of dollars.

Lower transportation costs

Using bank check scanners reduces the need for businesses to have employees leave the office or use couriers to transport financial documents to the branch. Although some financial documents must still be presented to financial institutions in paper form, research shows that implementing an image processing system can reduce the cost of transporting financial documents by as much as eighty percent.

Lower processing costs

Just as image processing lowers transportation costs by reducing the need to transport documents to financial institutions, it lowers processing costs by eliminating the need to balance deposits. Furthermore, RDC allows businesses to converge remittance processing and financial transaction processing into a single platform-an arrangement that is made possible by Check 21 legislation.

Improved Data Storage

By creating digital images of financial documents, RDC allows businesses to store check data in digital form instead of as canceled paper checks. This makes it easy to store data offsite with a provider of disaster recovery services, which protects the data from destruction in the event of a disaster. Storing the data offsite also allows businesses to reduce operating expenses and increase workspace by decreasing onsite data silos.

Conclusion

Remote deposit capturere lies on bank check scanners to create the digital images of checks. After the images are created, they take the place of the original documents to expedite item processing and eliminate the need for documents to be transported from one party to another. These accomplishments offer businesses the benefits listed above, and give financial institutions a competitive advantage at the branch level.

No comments:

Post a Comment