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CHECK 21 - Case Study

The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), which receives and distributes $4.7 billion in annual revenue from 75 different tax types wanted an automated, cost-effective way to handle the hundreds of thousands of checks and paper tax forms that arrive at its offices each month.

THE PRODUCT: Check 21 is a RemitTrac© module that helps banks and other organizations with large volumes of paper payment transactions, improve turnaround times and reduce errors. The Check 21 module truncates checks after the image capture process and the transactions are processed through RemitTrac’s© normal image-based lockbox processing workflow. After transaction balancing, an electronic check presentment file is generated, replacing the existing paper deposit process.

THE CHALLENGE: The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), which receives and distributes $4.7 billion in annual revenue from 75 different tax types wanted an automated, cost-effective way to handle the hundreds of thousands of checks and paper tax forms that arrive at its offices each month.

In all, more than $2.2 billion, and 2.5 million paper forms are received for sales, corporate, individual income, fuel and other taxes in Little Rock. These include single form/single check, single check/multiple forms and multiple checks/single form. Payments are either combined or split among multiple agencies. The DFA captures and reconciles payment data, processes checks and provides payment information for state government agencies.

While the department’s manual methods worked, they failed to keep up with the state’s growth. Sorting, capturing and indexing the checks and data was labor-intensive and time-consuming. On peak days, when volumes could double, staff were under extreme pressure to perform as delays caused the state to lose interest on its revenues and errors caused customer service issues.

The DFA called payment processing specialist ImageScan for advice. After a complete evaluation of its requirements, the company recommended RemitTrac© with Check 21, a powerful, robust solution with a clearly defined upgrade path.

he DFA chose RemitTrac© with Check 21, as a complete and scalable transaction processing solution, that automates sorting, data entry, and indexing and allows additional document images, such as payment vouchers, to be automatically inserted into the document workflow  without the need to manually create, print and file these forms.

Because RemitTrac© with Check 21 automatically indexes payment documents with the payers’ account numbers, the DFA no longer needs to manually stamp documents with Document Locator Numbers (DLNs). This saves time on the front-end, and improves post-processing retrieval at the back-end.

The DFA can now submit deposits with the Check 21 module, creating X9.37 electronic cash letters, or by encoding MICR on checks if needed. RemitTrac’s© amount and MICR data perfection capabilities ensure accurate deposit submissions and allow its bank to process deposits more efficiently.

Since installing the solution, the DFA has significantly reduced the amount of data that has to be manually entered. This has resulted in a 50 percent reduction in errors and faster processing times. Because checks and tax forms are captured in the same batch, problems with separating documents have also been eliminated.

RemitTrac© has helped the DFA improve customer service and turnaround times, reduce errors and achieve great efficiencies. Image-based solutions such as RemitTrac© are the best way to get paper into an electronic data stream.

THE BENEFITS: Faster Turnaround, Fewer Errors, and Accelerated Funds Availability.

  • All transactions can be processed in a single workflow
  • Ease of setup: RemitTrac’s© Setup module features an innovative graphical user interface (GUI) that minimizes the need for advanced technical expertise
  • Ease of use: RemitTrac© is designed to take as many decision points away from the operators as possible, making the system easier to use
  • Flexible, customizable workflow: Provides tools to enable rapid setup and deployment of custom workflows. Allows tracking of items and batch progress from mail opening to archive
  • Accelerated Funds Availability: Check 21 allows access to cleared funds more quickly, increasing interest earnings and accelerating cash flow.

 

To see how ImageScan provided a solution to deal with these challenges See White Papers