VISUAL
NEWSLETTER – OCT 2004
The manual processing of cheques creates a number of
problems for which technology can provide a number of solutions. The problems
presented are primarily Time, Cost and Cheque Fraud. Each of these problems has
a number of possible solutions that can alleviate the problem. Each company
must decide which programs work best for them.
To address Time concerns, the following may be
helpful:
Laser cheques print much more quickly then dot-matrix
cheques and provide built in extra cheque stubs for company retained copies.
For companies
with multiple bank accounts cheques can be printed on blank stock with magnetic
encoding by the printer. This reduces time spent switching and maintaining
multiple cheques for multiple bank accounts.
If you run Cheque Reconciliation for a large number of
cheques your bank may provide an electronic reconciliation file. This can be
processed by Libra to automatically reconcile all of the cheques in the file
and provide a listing of any cheques that do not match the ones you sent out.
To address Cost concerns, the following solutions
may be worth noting:
Computer generated cheques for companies dealing with
multiple bank accounts allow the company to purchase large numbers of blank
cheques rather than smaller runs of bank specific cheques. This keeps the cost
per cheque down in this instance. Keep in mind that you must also factor in the
program cost for this feature as well as the cost of magnetic toner cartridges.
Companies who use this technology generally dedicate one printer to the cheque
printing function for this reason.
Automated cheque reconciliation reduces cost by reducing
labour spent reconciling and catching instances of cheque fraud quickly.
For
some companies direct deposit and / or e-payments can result in considerable
savings. The cost of these programs varies from bank to bank and there are
other companies such as TelPay out of Winnipeg that offer the services as well.
Typically, there is a flat monthly fee for this service plus a fee per
transmission and / or per transaction. A large number of companies use this
service for direct deposit payroll purposes.
When you consider the cost of physical cheques, envelopes, postage, bank
clearing charges and such this can amount to considerable savings for many
companies.
To address Fraud concerns, a number of the
previous solutions as well as a few more are worth a look:
Blank Laser encoded cheques reduce the possibility of
someone stealing a blank cheque and addressing and cashing it.
Some new laser encoded cheques also offer new
technologies to make it more difficult to copy. Any physical cheque can be
scanned and easily changed and reprinted nowadays. I’ve even heard of kids
scanning and printing their own money this way and cashing it in at school.
This sort of activity is behind the high-tech features in our brand new
20-dollar bill.
Many
banks now offer Positive Payment services. When you print a run of
cheques you send the bank an electronic list of the cheque numbers, payee names
and amounts.
They
will not clear any cheques that are not on that electronic list, negating a lot
of fraud.
Automated
cheque reconciliation highlights cheque fraud as well, albeit after the fact.
Direct
Deposit and e-payments are another line of defence
against cheque fraud. However it is sometimes more difficult to persuade
vendors to supply you with their bank accounts then it is with employees who
are generally happy with direct deposits.