A Convenience-Oriented Service That Delivers Favorable Impact to Branch-Fee Income

Author: Source Technologies

It’s a bit of a mystery why checks, especially B2B payments, are still a prominent payment method today even with the plethora of digital payment methods that have emerged. Believe it or not, checks account for 51% of all B2B payments! With that said, checks are here to stay for certain payments, including in bank branches – official checks, for example. So, why are there still so many US banks and credit unions yet to digitize and automate the in-branch check printing and issue process?

 

Context and Timing

Context and timing have everything to do with branch transformation and automation projects, so the windows of opportunity to implement small projects have often been within larger scope branch technology initiatives.

In the battle for fee income, efforts to optimize costs across a branch network, and pressures to provide convenience-oriented services, many retail bank executives are looking to reprioritize small technology projects, such as in-branch check printing, that fulfill this trifecta.

 

In-Branch Check Printing Solution Drives Big Return

Automating the in-branch official check printing and issue process is a relatively small automation project that has delivered big returns for many of Source Technologies’ customers. The costs savings are significant. Transaction time is reduced by 4x – 2 minutes from 8 minutes. Most notably, for banks that experience a high incidence of tellers who subjectively waive fees within a manual process when they sell an official check, they are enabled through automation to recapture this fee as income.

One top 10 bank that recently automated the in-branch check printing and issue process across thousands of branches saw a 41% increase in official check fees collected that were previously waived by tellers in the manual process. This increase in fee income was the single line item that drove their ROI on the project spend to under one year.

For three decades, Source Technologies has served as the premiere provider for super-regional, regional and small banks and credit unions to help automate the teller check printing and issue process with our secure MICR check printing systems.