Alabama WIC chooses FormsPartner® and Source Technologies' MICR printers to save time and money managing vouchers

Alabama WIC chose FormsPartner and Source Technologies' MICR printers because...

• FormsPartner saves them valuable time in their voucher distribution process and virtually eliminates voucher fraud
• FormsPartner and Source Technologies' MICR printers were easily integrated with their accounting system
• FormsPartner saves them money by eliminating unnecessary storage, handling, postage, and printing of preprinted vouchers

About the Customer

The State of Alabama provides Women, Infant and Children (WIC) services to thousands of women and young children every year. As part of the program, food vouchers are distributed to qualified participants and used to purchase approved food and infant care products.

What We Found

WIC vouchers, like checks, contain a MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) line. Prior to using FormsPartner, vouchers were printed on preprinted stock at a central state office. The vouchers were then sorted and mailed to individual WIC offices where they were again sorted and filed. WIC participants could then come in and pick up their vouchers.

This system was very unsecure; blank vouchers could be pilfered, filled out, and then used, while completed vouchers could be stolen from the local offices. Postage for mailing vouchers and the hours spent sorting and filing in the state and local offices were also adding up in unnecessary time and money.

Another issue was that approximately 20% of vouchers were never claimed. Since bank fees apply to every issued voucher, Alabama WIC was losing money on unclaimed vouchers, in addition to other costs. The State of Alabama needed to simplify their current process while reducing the risk of fraud.

ST Solution

Alabama WIC selected FormsPartner to automate their voucher issuance process. FormsPartner is an easy-to-use server based electronic forms software application. It accepts data from a wide range of sources and merges it with the appropriate form, then outputs the completed form to printers and other devices throughout the organization.

Source Technologies' team of experts integrated FormsPartner with Alabama's AS/400-based accounting system. This now lets WIC employees call up a recipient's account online and print vouchers directly from the accounting system on blank stock, including identifying account number, logo, variable data, MICR line and authorized signature. Additionally, Alabama WIC deployed Source Technologies' secure MICR laser printers in each office, letting WIC staff print vouchers locally in each office, on-demand.

Using this voucher printing system from Source Technologies, Alabama WIC has eliminated preprinted vouchers, voucher storage and handling labor, postage, and wasted bank fees. And with the security provided by FormsPartner and Source TechnologiesMICR printers, they have eliminated voucher fraud. All of this has saved them time and money that can be redirected to serving the women and children of Alabama.