Bank of America Launches ARC Services to Convert Paper Checks to ACH Transactions
Monday April 28, 3:04 pm ET
ATLANTA, CHARLOTTE, N.C., and ORLANDO, Fla., April 28
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Payments 2003 Booth #201 -- Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News) announced today that it will begin offering Accounts Receivable Conversion, or "ARC", services. The Bank of America ARC solution is powered by CheckFree Corporation's (Nasdaq: CKFR - News) PEP+ reACH software, and represents the first industry offering that allows corporations to take advantage of ARC benefits without significant up-front costs or cumbersome software installations.
ARC services allow corporations that receive high volumes of paper check payments to convert those items into electronic transactions that can be processed through the ACH payment network. Benefits to the corporation include improved processing efficiencies, faster funds availability and higher collection rates. Corporate treasurers and retail lockbox and credit card managers can lower transaction processing costs, reduce manual handling, and streamline operations.
"The benefit of letting Bank of America handle ARC conversion at the bank is that companies can enjoy the efficiencies of processing ARC transactions without having to invest in the software, hardware, and additional personnel required by all other ARC models that are currently available," said Peter D. Wheeler, senior vice president, Receipts Product Management for Bank of America. "In turn, we have the opportunity to add value to these types of services. Clients need only transmit a file of raw check MICR data, and we will do the conversion at the bank -- where ACH processing occurs, and where returned items can be managed efficiently and accurately."
The Bank of America solution is unique in increasing successful conversion and minimizing returns. From the first day of conversion, the check MICR file content is improved to deliver an optimal conversion rate because the client's check file is matched against a proprietary database of ACH-approved transactions. The higher successful conversion rate results in fewer returns. A lower return rate minimizes costs, particularly when processing higher volumes. Additionally, Bank of America offers same-day availability for items drawn on Bank of America. Since one out of every four households maintains an account with Bank of America, there is real benefit to the corporate biller in the Bank of America solution. . .
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