Company: Mitek Systems, Inc.
Product: ImageScore image solution

Like the final planning stages of a large event, the big day is just around the corner for The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act: On Oct. 28, 2004, Check 21 will go into effect and alter the way financial institutions exchange check items. Are all systems go?

Intended to improve the efficiencies in a system that's been in place for years, Check 21 will make it possible for financial institutions to exchange digital images of checks instead of the actual paper versions.

The quality of these digital images needs to be high enough so that there is no question about the information on the check.

Mitek Systems, Inc. has been in the recognition technology field for over 10 years, using neural networking techniques in its fraud prevention and other solutions. The company has released its ImageScore image quality analysis solution, designed specifically for financial institutions to incorporate into their check scanning systems.

James DeBello, Mitek Systems CEO, said that one of the leading problems banks will face as the Check 21 environment develops is loss of transaction data. Under Check 21, paper checks will be destroyed; if questions regarding the accuracy of the transaction arise after that, there is no way to retrieve the original data.

The usability of the image is also a consideration: Is the information legible? Will the image quality result in the transaction being settled?

One of the keys to the successful implementation of Check 21 is maintaining quality levels of images to establish absolute validity of data, DeBello said. When banks exchange the digital images, those images have to be pristine.

Information including Courtesy Amount Recognition and Legal Amount Recognition (CAR-LAR), signature and endorsement must be preserved accurately as components of the new digital image.

ImageScore identifies and flags potential flaws while conducting several levels of tests for each data item including the presence of all required data (i.e. date, signature and payment information) and performs optical character recognition/intelligent character recognition tests; a quality score is then issued.

These features will help speed up presentment, clearing and settlement and eliminate liability due to unusable images; for banks, this means reduced operational and labor costs.

Harland Financial Solutions is the first financial technology provider for financial institutions to adopt ImageScore as the quality assurance tool in its image-based processing solution, CheckQuest.

DeBello said Mitek Systems sells its solutions through several channel partners and that distributorships are available.

Mitek Systems, Inc.
14145 Danielson Street
Poway, CA 92064
858-513-4600
www.miteksystems.com