Chexar Networks, Inc. (“CHEXAR® ”) and Clear Payments, Inc. (“ CPI®”) have jointly developed a mobile application for smartphones that will change the way check cashing consumers interact with their providers. The product enables a consumer to know whether or not their check will get cashed prior to driving to the check cashing location. CHEXAR clients that utilize the SmartScore System for centralized check cashing will be able to brand the mobile app for their consumer customers creating a new loyalty platform that truly gives the consumer a reason to frequent them for their transactional needs.

CPI founder and Chairman Randy Simoneaux commented that, “we are solving several major issues starting with giving this consumer a reason to be loyal to a single check casher. Now this consumer will know if their check is approved before they ever get into their car or sit in the lobby and wait while a check is being underwritten. Once approved the app will also direct them to the nearest location to complete the transaction and pick up their cash.”

According to a recent study by KPMG there are almost 100 million Americans that do not have a bank account or don’t fully utilize their bank accounts, and prefer alternative financial service providers such as check cashers. These consumers, referred to as “underbanked”, have chosen to live on a cash basis and need to convert more than 20 types of checks into cash daily and weekly. Today they visit a check cashing location, typically based upon convenience and speed, and they present their checks when they walk up to the window. Sometimes these checks are approved immediately and sometimes they are asked to take a seat while someone investigates the circumstances to make a yes/no decision. If the check is then declined, they have wasted as much as an hour of their time and they still have to find somewhere to cash the check. Even if they are approved it often takes as much as 15 minutes to get the approval.

CHEXAR founder and CEO Drew W. Edwards went on to say, “while many of these consumers are moving to reload-able prepaid cards and we have a lot of focus on enabling them to load their checks directly into these card accounts with instant funds availability, most of these consumers still prefer to cash their check and walk out with the money. We see this as a great stepping stone for this consumer and our clients to drastically improve their check cashing experience while staging them for extended mobile deposit capture and other financial products. This changes everything for our clients and their consumers because we are taking what was a commodity transaction and making it a relationship transaction. Future releases of the program will likely include other features such as loyalty programs and prescheduled appointment times for the consumer.”

Simoneaux added, “when CHEXAR asked us to partner with them in developing and hosting this application, we immediately understood the value and combined it with our mobile deposit capture development projects. As the check 21 processing and settlement partner for all Chexar transactions today, the SmartScore system further strengthens our relationship and mutual commitment to the underserved industry.

About Clear Payments

CPI® is an innovative remote deposit and payments technology company. We specialize in select vertical markets with an emphasis on underserved financial service organizations, prepaid companies, software integrators, large corporate clients and financial institutions. A 100% commitment to these segments has provided CPI a unique opportunity to build proprietary check management applications with segment targeted features and functionality. Consistent performance, proven technology and time tested solutions have allowed the company to grow an impressive list of clients. An emphasis on the underserved check cashing industry has helped CPI develop and lead in the areas of check cashing integration and feature functionality used to support the largest portfolio of underserved clients in the US. For more information, please visit our website http://www.clearpaymentsinc.com or contact Allison Jones, (615) 656-2510, allison.jones@clearpaymentsinc.com.

About Chexar

CHEXAR® is the national leader for technology and solutions that enable clients to cash, deposit or load any check with immediate funds availability. Chexar’s solutions provide clients with the ability to truly serve the nation’s under-banked population now estimated to be almost 100 million people. The gating factor for these consumers is their need to change all types of checks into cash or value before they can acquire other services including bill pay, money transfers, or prepaid cards.

Chexar’s solutions enable any business to convert ANY type and ANY size of check to cash or to immediate credit onto Prepaid Cards or as fee-based deposits into bank accounts and to mitigate the risk of duplicate deposits on all check transactions. The company’s one-of-a-kind solutions combine multiple national databases, rules engines, and proprietary technology with redundant 24/7 risk management centers to achieve the industry’s highest automated and overall approval rates on any check. Chexar’s solutions are deployed across multiple platforms including turnkey point of sale solutions, assisted and self-service kiosk solutions, mobile devices, and full XML integrations. For more information, please visit http://www.chexar.com.

Clear Payments, Inc. (“CPI®”) and Chexar Networks, Inc. (“CHEXAR®”) have developed a comprehensive integrated solution for the seamless processing and clearing of check-to-card remote deposits called Deposit Choice. The new platform enables mobile and remote deposit application providers and their bank, retailer, check casher, and prepaid clients to offer the consumer a choice between loading or depositing a check with delayed provisional availability or with immediate irreversible availability of good funds in a single integrated back end settlement solution.

The new solution has been developed in response to rapid market adoption of reload-able prepaid cards and bank accounts and the resulting mobile banking applications supporting these account products. One of the hottest trends in this arena is the move to add functionality to offer the remote deposit capture of checks. Enabling this consumer to snap a picture of any check and deposit it into their account or load it onto a prepaid card using their smartphone is considered by many to be the biggest game changing feature of the prepaid industry.

Drew Edwards, CHEXAR Founder and CEO explained that “there are many providers of remote deposit capture technologies to enable the capture and deposit of checks from smartphones in the traditional sense where funds are provisionally made available and often with a delay of several days. Lately, CHEXAR has been covered up with these providers seeking to access our Good Funds Network to provide for immediate and irreversible funds availability to the underbanked consumer.”

Randy Simoneaux, CPI Founder and Chairman added that “the DepositChoice solution is a joint and integrated offering with our partners at CHEXAR to enable the players in the remote deposit capture space to offer their consumer a choice of deposit options at the time of the transaction for two different price points, but with a single back end processing and settlement solution integrated with CHEXAR’s Good Funds Network.”

Edwards went on to say “CPI has been our partner in the processing and settlement of network transactions for a long time and we turned to them to build this product for the marketplace. DepositChoice is being made available to all remote deposit capture players in the industry as a back end processing and settlement solution to support their client facing models.”

Richard Pinson, CEO of CPI added that “we are delivering a turnkey dual deposit, dual settlement and returns management API that helps standardize a client’s entire capture network. Because of the compelling cost and efficiency advantages, we anticipate significant early adoption and DepositChoice becoming an industry standard interface.”

KPMG estimates that there are more than 88 million consumers in the nation considered underbanked, meaning they do not fully utilize traditional banking services, but rather rely upon alternative services such as check cashing and prepaid products. Banks, retailers, alternative financial services providers and consumer companies are rapidly launching product offerings targeting the financial needs of these valuable consumers.

About Clear Payments, Inc.

CPI® is an innovative remote deposit and payments technology company. We specialize in select vertical markets with an emphasis on underserved financial service organizations, prepaid companies, software integrators, large corporate clients and financial institutions. A 100% commitment to these segments has provided CPI a unique opportunity to build proprietary check management applications with segment targeted features and functionality. Consistent performance, proven technology and time tested solutions have allowed the company to grow an impressive list of clients. An emphasis on the underserved check cashing industry has helped CPI develop and lead in the areas of check cashing integration and feature functionality used to support the largest portfolio of underserved clients in the US. For more information, please visit our website http://www.clearpaymentsinc.com or contact Allison Jones, (615) 656-2510, allison(dot)jones(at)clearpaymentsinc(dot)com.

About CHEXAR

CHEXAR® is the national leader for technology and solutions that enable clients to cash, deposit or load any check with immediate funds availability. CHEXAR’s solutions provide clients with the ability to truly serve the nation’s under-banked population now estimated to be almost 100 million people. The gating factor for these consumers is their need to change all types of checks into cash or value before they can acquire other services including bill pay, money transfers, or prepaid cards.

CHEXAR’s solutions enable any business to convert ANY type and ANY size of check to cash or to immediate credit onto Prepaid Cards or as fee-based deposits into bank accounts and to mitigate the risk of duplicate deposits on all check transactions. The company’s one-of-a-kind solutions combine multiple national databases, rules engines, and proprietary technology with redundant 24/7 risk management centers to achieve the industry’s highest automated and overall approval rates on any check. Chexar’s solutions are deployed across multiple platforms including turnkey point of sale solutions, assisted and self-service kiosk solutions, mobile devices, and full XML integrations. For more information, please visit http://www.chexar.com.

Regions Bank, the sixth-largest bank in metro Atlanta, is pursuing revenue from services long ceded to Walmart and the so-called shadow banking industry.

More than 60 million adults in the U.S. either don’t use traditional banks or, if they have checking or savings accounts, still choose non-bank check cashers, money orders and payday lenders for their financial needs.

Birmingham-based Regions Financial, parent of Regions Bank, is offering an alternative to the alternative — services it says are cheaper and broader than those even provided by Walmart, which has crowded into the financial system.

For months, Regions has been rolling out “Now Banking,” a cache of fee-based, check-cashing services, Western Union money orders, bill-payment options and reloadable debit cards catering to Regions customers and those who don’t use the bank.

If successful, other traditional banking institutions won’t be far behind in offering these basic services, which could open up a growth market for them and bring people into the financial mainstream.

“That’s a huge segment when the industry is grappling for revenue,” said Greg McBride, senior economist with Bankrate.com. “You can’t afford to ignore 25 percent of the marketplace.”

Regions’ products are as much as 50 percent cheaper than those offered by other check-cashing services and payday lenders, said John Owen, senior vice president of consumer banking for Regions.

“We look at it as an on-ramp to other services,” Owen said. Ten percent of Now Banking users have opened Regions banking accounts since the program began last summer, he said.

Most of Regions’ 1,727 branches currently offer the new services, and Regions will begin marketing Now Banking in January. Regions had 73 branches in metro Atlanta as of June, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Banks, however, will have a challenge convincing unbanked consumers to change providers, said T. Stephen Johnson, an Atlanta-based bank consultant. Walmart stores, for instance, still have a traditional Friday payday rush that banks used to have before the advent of direct deposit.

“If it works, it will be copied [by other banks], I can assure you,” Johnson said.

In Georgia, nearly 1.2 million households, or about 32 percent, are considered unbanked or “underbanked,” compared to 25 percent nationwide, according to a 2009 report from the FDIC.

Those “underbanked” typically have a basic bank account but aren’t fully engaged in the financial mainstream; among them are low- to mid-income people, minorities and immigrants.

Engaging these people in traditional banking services will help them obtain affordable credit and save money, the FDIC report said.

Banks have had to become creative because they aren’t earning as much on loans, with many still trying to clean up bad loans made during the run-up to the recession.

Recent regulatory changes have curbed fees that banks can charge for overdrafts and fees charged to merchants when consumers make debit-card purchases.

In response, Regions and several other major banks, including Atlanta’s SunTrust, tried to initiate monthly fees on consumer debit-card use, but the banks retreated amid a consumer revolt.

Wells Fargo has long had a sizable money-order business, and other banks are looking for ways to provide basic, fee-based banking services, McBride said.

The fast-growing prepaid debit card market, in particular, could be lucrative. The regulatory changes don’t limit fees charged to merchants to process prepaid debit cards, McBride said.

Banks also want to sell more products to customers, making it more difficult for them to leave.

Surveys of Regions customers found 30 percent used money orders, check-cashing services and payday lenders.

Once enrolled, Regions will cash government and payroll checks, plus personal checks and money orders. Reloadable debit cards cost $4 with a $5 monthly fee that can be waived with a $500 minimum direct deposit. There are no overdraft fees.

Fees are charged to load the cards through tellers and by phone, but use of Regions ATMs is free and cash on the cards is FDIC-insured.

Now Banking and other initiatives could help Regions counter the $170 million in expected annual revenue lost from the regulatory changes.

Copyright 2011 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Clear Payments, Incorporated (www.clearpaymentsinc.com), a leading provider of Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) Check 21 solutions for software integrators, announces a key partnership with ACS Technologies (acstechnologies.com), the world’s leading provider of information management software solutions to the faith-based market. Clear Payments and ACS Technologies introduce ACS Speed Check™, an integrated platform enabling approximately 50,000 ACS Technologies clients to expand the functionality of the ACS’ Contributions Module for both Desktop and On-Demand applications.

ACS Speed Check™ automates 100 percent of the record keeping and deposit requirements for checks collected by faith-based and non-profit clients, all integrated into the current ACS Contributions Module. ACS Technologies clients can process hundreds or thousands of checks in less time with greater accuracy. Users have the option of electronically depositing the checks with no additional effort. With ACS Speed Check™, ACS Technologies clients enjoy the most comprehensive and efficient contribution management system in the industry, delivering speed, accuracy and cost reductions. The only hardware requirement is a check scanner, and ACS Speed Check™ is offered at various service levels, Fast, Faster, and Fastest to meet the needs of any size faith-based or non-profit client.

ACS Speed Check™ was piloted throughout 2010 and prepared for a mid 2011 distribution campaign which is now underway. The integration effort, in keeping with the service oriented mission of both companies, provides ACS Technologies clients a seamless upgrade with minimal change to the existing Contributions Module interface.

“We are excited to add ACS Technologies to our growing list of high profile software solutions providers. Remote Deposit Capture is a natural extension of their already popular Contribution Module”, said Randy Simoneaux, CEO of Clear Payments. He added, “ACS Speed Check continues to produce very positive results and rapid adoption across the ACS portfolio. This adoption is a testament to the success of this project.”

“At ACS Technologies, we’re always in search of technologies and partners that bring value to the 50,000 faith-based clients we serve. Clear Payments has been a great resource and partner, and we’re excited to roll out this new, integrated product. It’s another great offering to our line of leading edge technologies, and more value for our current and future clients,” stated Craig Hearon, Chief Financial Officer of ACS Technologies.

About Clear Payments, Inc.

Clear Payments, Inc (www.clearpaymentsinc.com) is a leading provider of customized Remote Deposit Capture and Check 21 solutions. CPI provides solutions for large corporations and software integration enterprise solutions and have clients across a variety of industries to include non-profit, insurance, check cashing, prepaid card providers and distribution industries. Our RDC capture and frontend applications are combined with powerful settlement and integration tools designed to enhance the capture process, reconciliation, reporting and clearing functions of our clients receivables cycle management.

About ACS Technologies®

ACS Technologies (acstechnologies.com) is the leading provider of information management solutions to nearly 50,000 faith-based organizations with focused development and service efforts in 6 key areas: megachurches, medium/large churches, and small churches, organizations, schools, and the Catholic community. With leading brands ACS, PDS, Membership Plus, and Headmaster, ACS Technologies enables churches to manage every vital area of their ministry from finances to relationships, from events and groups to giving and serving. Whether online, offline, or wireless, the passion that drives ACS Technologies is maximizing technology’s value for ministry.

Clear Payments, Inc. (“Clear Payments”), a remote deposit capture (RDC) specialist offering proprietary check processing solutions to financial institutions, businesses, governments and software integrators, is pleased to announce that it has recently completed a service auditor’s review, commonly known as a SAS 70 audit, of its Clear ECD and ABBI Check Processing Systems. The audit was performed by a nationally recognized independent auditing firm, and was completed in April, 2010. Included in the scope of the audit were Clear Payments’ enrollment, check processing, data transmissions, quality control, data privacy and security, and reporting control areas. The general controls that support these activities were also examined.

Clear Payments’ management understands the ever increasing importance of corporate governance, as well as the impact of the organization’s services on our clients’ system of internal controls. The successful completion of the 2010 SAS 70 audit is only part of Clear Payments’ continued commitment to maintaining a high level of internal control. Clear Payments has engaged its service auditor to a long-term contract whereby Clear Payments will undergo a Type 1 audit on an annual basis.

SAS 70 is an acronym for the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Statement on Auditing Standard (SAS) No. 70, titled “Reports on the Processing of Transactions by Service Organizations”. SAS No. 70 defines the professional standards used by a service auditor to assess the internal controls of a service organization and issue a service auditor’s report.

In order to complete the audit, Clear Payments management developed control objectives for the significant areas of internal control that support the Clear ECD and ABBI Check Processing Systems. The control objectives in the Year report addressed each of the following areas:

• Control Environment
• Physical Security
• Environmental Protection
• Computer Operations
• Information Security
• Application Development and Maintenance Activities
• Data Communications
• Enrollment
• Check Processing
• Data Transmissions
• Quality Control
• Data Privacy and Security
• Reporting

Clear Payments’ service auditor performed extensive testing of the control activities that have been implemented by Clear Payments to help ensure that our control objectives are met. The service auditor’s testing allowed the service auditor to opine on the following:

• Whether the description of the controls prepared by Clear Payments presents fairly, in all material respects, the relevant aspects of the Clear Payments’ controls that had been placed in operation as of April 30, 2010; and
• Whether the controls were suitably designed to provide reasonable assurance that the specified control objectives would be achieved if those controls were complied with satisfactorily.

Following this rigorous examination, the auditing firm was able to issue an unqualified opinion regarding each of the areas described above.

Clear Payments management recognizes that Sarbanes-Oxley legislation has placed an increased focus on the internal controls of valued business partners. The SAS 70 audit report is designed to provide clients with a certain level of assurance regarding the controls that are maintained by Clear Payments management. The SAS 70 report addresses all five components of internal control outlined in the Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, namely the control environment, risk assessment activities, control activities, information and communication systems, and monitoring activities. The structure of our report is intuitive and is designed to be incorporated well with our clients’ Sarbanes-Oxley compliance programs.

Nashville, TN – Clear Payments, Inc. (CPI), announces today the launch of its small business electronic check deposit (ECD) product, Clear ECD which combines all components necessary for a payment distribution channel and or small business client to implement and utilize EDC. Distribution channels such as Banks and software companies such as Peachtree, the latest addition to select CPI, can now effectively manage the marketing, sales and execution of electronic check deposit through the 100% outsourced solution.

As an electronic method of creating and submitting deposits, ECD has enjoyed rapid adoption by larger companies with available budgets to implement this new and relatively expensive technology. As in any new technology, software, hardware and the infrastructure to support ECD have evolved. As the “knuckle buster” and the drive to the bank to deposit your credit card receipts disappeared with the $300 credit card terminal, ECD is now poised to make the same transition.

Software and hardware are just two components of a much larger solution. Until now, the job of education, enrollment, implementation and support of ECD has been the industry challenge. Clear ECD has taken a clear lead in online marketing and management of ECD. Just as a business would sign up for processing credit cards, the client can evaluate ECD from the technology to costs. Enrollment, training and installation can be managed without human intervention, allowing Clear Payments to pass tremendous saving to it’s distribution channel and end user base while providing a higher level of service.

Banks are quickly recognizing that electronic check deposit does not warrant significant investment nor does a bank need another specialty payment product to manage and market.

While CPI manages all levels of check processing from basic business deposit capture to high volume remittance for government and utilities, Clear EDC is targeted specifically at the small business which represents the vast majority of deposit market in number of locations. Randy Simoneaux, CEO of Clear Payments, Inc. commented “Cost has been a barrier to entry for the small business user, leaving this segment largely underserved. Clear ECD will make electronic check deposit affordable, manageable and most importantly, available to the mass market.”

In addition to the robust Clear ECD application , CPI has selected the new Micro series scanner, an evolutionary breakthrough in price performance and greatly contributes to this low cost mass market solution. Small business can now take advantage of the efficiencies and convenience ECD offers for the cost of a cellular phone plan or your cable bill. It changes the game and allows everyone to play”, said Matt Hamilton, President of CPI. “As you view the product from the online evaluation tools through enrollment and training, our commitment, vision and now the capability for our distribution channel to effectively reach the mass market provides our partners a clear advantage”.

About Clear Payments, Inc:

Clear Payments, Inc. (CPI)was previously known as Check Imaging Solutions, Inc. and is a Nashville based provider of electronic check deposit or remote deposit solutions assisting banks, commercial businesses and software integrators with full service distribution programs and products for clearing check and other electronic payment items electronically. As a payment consolidator, CPI is recognized for consulting, designing and implementing many of the countries most effective and efficient consolidated payment solutions. Thousands of customers and locations clear daily through the CPI platform.

Atlanta, GA—Sage North America announced today the availability of the Peachtree by Sage 2010 product line, offering new features and improvements that bring greater visibility, enhanced analytics, and increased productivity to small businesses. Through a unique partnership with iLumen, small businesses who use Peachtree 2010 will have seamless access to financial analysis and comparative benchmarking capabilities specific to their industry, their geography, and small businesses overall.

With the new Business Analytics(1) feature in Peachtree, powered by iLumen, small businesses can:

— See how their company is performing compared to other companies, using the new customizable company Performance Monitor dashboard.

— Use this tool to improve financial health and make critical decisions. Get instant access to view up-to-date key financial trends in order to compare items such as Total Revenue, Gross Margin %, Days Sales Outstanding, and much more.

“In the past, access to this kind of financial analysis and benchmarking data with iLumen’s service was primarily only available to banks and accountants, who in turn used it when working with clients,” said Connie Certusi, general manager, small business accounting solutions, Sage North America. “We’re thrilled to arm our small business and accountant customers with this powerful analysis tool, to help them gain a clear picture of where they are, where they are going, and where opportunities exist.”

With Business Analytics, small businesses gain access to many of the same powerful capabilities that are used by leading banks, accounting firms and larger businessess to provide financial insights and trend analyses. The feature is included for Peachtree users, making it a tremendous value for small businesses and accountants alike. They will be able to access relevant financial analysis, compare their own business performance against their industry’s performance, and gain a deeper understanding of their own business challenges and opportunities.

“We are delighted to partner with Sage and power the Peachtree product with our analytic and benchmarking capabilities,” said Michael Canzian, President, iLumen. “We have packaged our service to be ‘inside the box’ with Peachtree, making it a very unique and powerful deployment of the iLumen capabilities for their users.”

Pricing and Availability

Business Analytics, powered by iLumen, is available across the Peachtree 2010 product line. Peachtree Premium Accounting 2010, Peachtree Complete Accounting 2010, Peachtree Pro Accounting 2010 and Peachtree First Accounting 2010 are now available direct from Sage and will be available from most computer retailers and office supply stores in mid-June. The suggested retail price for Peachtree Premium Accounting 2010 is $499.99, Peachtree Complete Accounting 2010 is $299.99, Peachtree Pro Accounting 2010 is $199.99, and Peachtree First Accounting 2010 is $99.99. The Multi-User Value Pack (5 seat license) of Peachtree Complete Accounting retails for $699.99, while the Peachtree Premium Accounting 2010 Multi-User Value Pack (5 seat license) can be ordered direct from Sage for $1,199.99. Peachtree Quantum and the industry-specific solutions for accountants, distribution, nonprofits, construction, and manufacturing are now available direct from Sage Software, selected resellers, and hundreds of Peachtree Certified Consultants nationwide. The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the industry-specific editions of Peachtree by Sage Premium Accounting 2010 are $499.99 for single user and $1199.99 for multi-user (5 seat license). 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 seat licenses are available for Peachtree Quantum, which starts at $4450.00 for new customers, $3975.00 for upgrading customers. High value competitive rebates are available from Sage for customers on other small business accounting packages. Call 800-228-0068 for more details.

About iLumen

iLumen Inc. provides technology to capture, standardize, analyze and distribute company financial data in order to solve critical problems in risk management, relationship management and financial oversight within the banking, accounting corporate, and small business environments. iLumen’s services are based on a proprietary business intelligence and data mapping engine that delivers clean, accurate and timely customer data to enable efficiency, customer intelligence, and competitive advantage . For more information visit www.ilumen.com or call 888-663-8003. iLumen®, iDEA™, Portfolio Connection™ and Customer Connection™ are trademarks of iLumen Inc., all rights reserved.

About Sage North America

Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services. At Sage, we live and breathe business every day. We are passionate about helping our customers achieve their ambitions. Our range of business software and services is continually evolving as we innovate to answer our customers’ needs. Our solutions support accounting, operations, customer relationship management, human resources, time tracking, merchant services and the specialized needs of the construction, distribution, healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofit and real estate industries. Sage North America employs approximately 4,100 people and supports 2.9 million small and medium-size business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs more than 14,500 people and supports more than 5.8 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the web site at www.sagenorthamerica.com or call 866-308-2378.

(1) Internet access required. Service is embedded within Peachtree 2010, however is also available for Peachtree 2008 and 2009 products via a separate application download from www.peachtree.com.

©2009 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Sage, the Sage logos, Peachtree, and the Sage product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc. or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Blue Bell, PA– Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) today introduced a multi-function remote deposit scanner that offers companies a low-cost, easy way to deposit checks from their offices directly into their bank accounts, and provides financial institutions with a cost-effective remote capture solution for small business customers.

The new Unisys SmartSource™ Micro series, which sells for under $200, is the lowest priced check scanner available today. It also is the smallest device in the industry, measuring only 8 by 2.75 inches.

“The Unisys Micro series is the remote capture hardware solution that small businesses demand – a low cost, easy-to-use device that comes with essential functionality and none of the extra features that add cost,” said Alan Howard, president of Unisys Payment Systems. “We provide a price point where the business case for image capture makes complete sense. Both small business owners, and banks who market to them, can improve administrative functions, and also potentially provide faster access to cash flow which is especially critical in today’s tight economy.”

The Micro series scanner is completely USB powered, requiring no additional external power source. The scanner uses optical character recognition technology to read the magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) line on checks allowing for easier processing since checks do not need to be specifically aligned on the scanning path. The Micro series also can accommodate items from 0.1 to 1.0mm thick, providing additional image capture capabilities for non-check items such as driver’s licenses, coupons, and receipts. The scanner is compatible with Silver Bullet’s Ranger interface and is fully TWAIN compliant, so integration efforts for these existing applications are minimal.

As a companion to the new Micro series scanner, Unisys also offers a new complete web-based remote capture solution in conjunction with Clear Payments Incorporated (CPI), a Nashville-based software solutions provider. The new solution integrates the convenience of the Micro series scanner with CPI’s leading RemitMaster application. By eliminating additional expenses of application support and customer management, this solution lowers costs and provides greater return on investment for financial institutions looking to develop remote deposit capture programs for the small business market. Small business owners can also take advantage of this new solution regardless of their banks’ affiliation with CPI or Unisys.

“This scanner is to remote deposit capture what the POS terminal is to credit cards,” said Randy Simoneaux, chief executive officer of Clear Payments Incorporated. “By combining a solid product like the Unisys Micro series with our proven RemitMaster application, CPI and Unisys have removed the barriers of entry into the small business remote deposit capture market.”

The Micro series scanner is the newest addition to the Unisys SmartSource family of image scanning, item-processing products which work well in a variety of environments, including back office, teller, and corporate capture. Volume shipments for the SmartSource Micro series will be available on May 1, and the total solution package late second quarter of 2009. For more information, see www.unisys.com/go/micro.

About Unisys

Unisys is a worldwide information technology company. We provide a portfolio of IT services, software, and technology that solves critical problems for clients. We specialize in helping clients secure their operations, increase the efficiency and utilization of their data centers, enhance support to their end users and constituents, and modernize their enterprise applications. To provide these services and solutions, we bring together offerings and capabilities in outsourcing services, systems integration and consulting services, infrastructure services, maintenance services, and high-end server technology. With more than 28,000 employees, Unisys serves commercial organizations and government agencies throughout the world. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.

Smaller banks are embracing remote deposit check-capture technology as a way to compete with major lenders.  Bankers say the technology, which allows businesses to scan check images and send them electronically to the bank, allows them to sign up more commercial business customers without building new branches.

Smaller banks such as Tennessee Bank & Trust may not have a lot of branches, but they now have the ability to compete with the major players in attracting customers - particularly small businesses - from around the world.

More community banks are investing in the remote deposit check-capture technology that allows small businesses to scan check images into a computer and electronically "ship" them to the banks.

Doctor's offices and other small businesses that process lots of checks benefit because they no longer need to physically take checks to the bank.

Banks benefit because they can sign up more of the highly sought-after commercial business customers without opening new branches. That's one reason more smaller banks are adopting remote deposit check capture.

"Banking is generally driven by brick and mortar," says Matt Hamilton, president of Check Imaging Solutions, a Nashville-based provider of check-imaging technology. "If you want to be a bank, you go out and build branches because people need a place to take their money."

"When remote deposit started, banks started to realize (they) no longer have to have a branch on every corner to accept deposits," Hamilton explains. "Remote deposit is a lot cheaper than building a bank."

The American Bankers Association's annual Community Bank Competitiveness Survey found that 16 percent of community banks surveyed currently have remote deposit capture and another 33 percent plan to offer it by the end of this year. An additional 9 percent plan to have it by 2008 or later, the survey found.

Check Imaging Solutions has continued to grow since opening in 2005. The company signed its first bank in June 2006 and less than a year later has 30 banks aboard.

The company's customers include Lexington-based FirstBank, which has $1.8 billion in assets, Gainesville Ga.-based GB&T Bankshares, which has $1.8 billion in assets, and Tennessee Bank & Trust, which is a division of Farmers Bank & Trust in Blytheville, Ark.

"We are going to bring them deposits they never would have gotten if it wasn't for this product," Hamilton says. "It's something that's actually changing the face of banking and banking is a very old institution, so that's hard to do."

Check Imaging's program is Internet-based and can be used on any computer, while many remote deposit programs are located on a specific computer hard drive and require the use of that computer.

About 30 percent of banks in the banker’s association survey said remote deposit was "an essential survival strategy," and reasons for offering it included competition, cost savings and customer requests.

Remote deposit capture also reduces processing costs for banks and makes funds available sooner than conventional branch banking.

"With remote deposit your bank can be anywhere, which allows banks like us to compete," says Doug Dawson, market development officer for Tennessee Bank & Trust.

Remote check capture is sought after because, despite the introduction of debit cards and the rise in credit card use, checks continue to be the most prevalent payment method in many small businesses.

"It wasn't too many years ago the term checkless society was floating around and it was vogue to talk about a checkless economy," says Brad Barrett, president of the Tennessee Bankers Association. "Consumers have spoken since then. Consumers and businesses like the ability to write a check." Clint Swift, director of payment strategies for the Chicago-based Bank Administration Institute, which recently shortened its name to BAI, says the volume of electronic check images being exchanged between banks continues to increase.

"It will help level the playing field," Swift says. "Small banks can be just as effective (in securing deposits) as large banks."

cyeldell@bizjournals.com 615-846-4250 Nashville Business Journal May 4-10, 2007

Nashville, TN–Check Imaging Solutions, Inc (CISI) announces the latest bank to join their Remote Deposit Capture Bank Platform. FirstBank chose Check Imaging Solutions to be the provider of their remote deposit merchant capture and remote lockbox for immediate deployment to applicable new and existing customers throughout their geographic footprint.

“We are very excited to be working with such a progressive Tennessee bank,” stated Matt Hamilton, President of Check Imaging Solutions. “FirstBank chose our platform not only for the robust remote deposit application, iStream Deposit™, that can be installed with their customers in less than 48 hours, but also because they understand the importance of a focused remote deposit marketing plan designed to gather deposits in and out of their geographic footprint.”

Check Imaging Solutions will provide it’s proprietary remote deposit capture (RDC) and remote lockbox application as part of their Bank Platform Service. The Bank Platform Service includes full customer technical support, hardware deployment, warranty and replacement services. FirstBank also utilizes a branded remote deposit sales and marketing program that provides various sales and marketing techniques, services and collateral material designed to accelerate FirstBank’s penetration to its existing and new deposit customers.

By utilizing CISI’s comprehensive solution approach, FirstBank is already in the process of implementing users on the system and remains focused on their deposit growth objectives. Mr. Hamilton added, “Our bank partners are serious about offering the best technology, service and efficiency to their business clients. We are a very focused company and appreciate when our partners recognize how our approach, experience, product and professionalism can assist them in executing their deposit objectives.”

About Check Imaging Solutions:

Check Imaging Solutions, Inc. is a Nashville based provider of remote deposit solutions assisting banks and commercial businesses with a more cost-effective method of processing and clearing check items. Check Imaging Solutions and their partner, iStream Technologies, provide remote deposit solutions in 42 states and have over 2,500 users nationwide.

About FirstBank:

Based in Lexington, TN, FirstBank is a $1.8 billion bank operating 41 branches throughout the state of Tennessee from Memphis to the Tri-Cities. FirstBank is full-service bank providing retail and commercial products, real estate lending and commercial treasury management products. FirstBank prides itself on being an integral part of the community and providing local decisions for local businesses.

Palm Desert, Calif.–Community bankers are adopting remote deposit technology much faster than they ever took to the Internet.

In a survey released Monday at the American Bankers Association’s National Conference for Community Bankers here, 58% of the respondents said they have adopted or plan to adopt the three-year-old technology by the end of next year. Fifty-eight percent also said that remote deposit capture would be their top technology-spending priority this year.

By comparison, community banks were slow to embrace Internet technology when it was in a similar stage of its life a decade ago. Only 22% of community banks that responded to a similar survey in 1997 said they had developed Web sites.

The survey was the 11th annual one conducted by the ABA Banking Journal and released at the ABA’s annual conference of community bankers.

Remote capture lets business customers convert checks into digital images in their offices and transmit the files electronically to a bank for deposit.

In this year’s survey, 30% of bankers said that the adoption of remote deposit was “an essential survival strategy,” and 24% said that they adopted it “to be on tech’s leading edge.” Also, 16% said competitors had started offering it, nearly 16% said they started offering it to cut processing costs, and 13% said that customers were asking for it.

James W. Aldrich, the chairman of the $312 million-asset Delaware Place Bank in Chicago, said at the conference Monday that his bank had implemented remote deposit services within the last 90 days.

“We’re a one-branch bank, and this provides us with a way to satisfy the needs of our customers without having to build additional branches,” he said.

Many bankers said the new offering is paying off; 65% of those using remote deposit said it has helped them attract new business customers, and 60% said that it has helped them retain current customers.

Steve Cocheo, the executive editor of the ABA Banking Journal, said that any bank that gives their business customers the gift of time is ahead of the game.

“This will become a commodity before too long, so banks that offer it first will get the credit first in customers’ minds.”

Still, some banks are not getting the results they expected.

Thomas Palmer, the president and chief executive officer of the $284 million-asset First National Bank of River Falls in Wisconsin, said that it implemented remote deposit last spring, but that so far business customers are using less than half of the 60 scanners the bank bought.

“I thought it would have been something that customers would jump on right away, because it would save them time,” he said. “But a lot of the administrators would prefer to get out of their offices and make deposits at our branches–so that they could also pick up their dry cleaning and do other errands.”

Eventually, Mr. Palmer said, he believes remote deposit will catch on in his market as more customers warm to it.

Remote deposit is not the only hot technology for bankers–53% said that they have implemented imaging technology to help them take advantage of the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, which makes it easier for banks to clear checks electronically and reduce float time. Twenty-three percent said they will implement such technology this year, and another 10% plan to do so next year.

Among the survey’s other findings:

• Thirty-four percent of the respondents said they had been affected by a third-party’s data security breach, and 5% said they had a breach of their own.
• Thirty-four percent let their employees carry laptops containing customer information off the premises; among those respondents, 76% encrypt the information, 31% use physical locking devices, 20% use software that turns the laptop into a “dumb terminal,” and 7% have software that shuts down and locates a stolen computer. (Respondents could choose multiple answers.)

Funding seems to be increasingly tough for bankers; 38% said that they have increased Federal Home Loan Bank borrowings over the last year, and 35% said they are using more brokered funds than they did five years ago. However, 47% said they have never used them.

Interestingly, deposits from health savings accounts have not panned out as well as supporters–namely the Bush administration–had predicted, Mr. Cocheo said. While a third of the banks surveyed offered such accounts, 83% of those banks said that they have not been a good source of deposits. Mr. Cocheo said that it may take time for account balances to add up.

Branching is as important as it ever was–78% of the bankers said it will remain community banks’ main source of growth, or roughly the same percentage who said the same thing in last year’s survey.

As far as branch convenience, 77% banks had branches that were open Saturdays, but only 5.4%, mainly in the Northeast and the Middle Atlantic, had Sunday hours. Four in 10 banks in the Northeast were open evenings, while hardly any bank in the West had evening hours. Overall, 23% of the respondents had evening hours.

As in previous years, bankers are having a tougher time finding qualified compliance officers, business lenders, information technology officers, and trust officers. But topping the list this year is chief risk officer (a new category), with 94% of the respondents saying that it was hard or very hard to find a qualified one in their market.

Mr. Cocheo said that the ABA added the category because more banks are creating the position to oversee “enterprise risk management.” Regulators are increasingly urging banks to identify, measure, and manage a range of risks–including credit, market, operational, and liquidity–and aggregate and correlate them across business lines.

When asked regulators’ biggest focus during their last bank exam, 52% of respondents said it was the Bank Secrecy Act, 27% said commercial real estate concentrations, 4% said capital ratios, and 18% said “other.” Slightly more than half the bankers said regulators had put some emphasis on enterprise risk management, while nearly a third said that there was a “great deal” of emphasis.

Overall, 23% said that their last exam last year was harder than the one before, 11% said it was easier, and 67% said it was about the same.

Bankers were also asked about their expectations for the coming year. (The survey was conducted last fall.) The bankers were split roughly evenly on whether their funding situation would be harder or stay the same; only 4% said that it would be easier.

Twenty-four percent said that loan growth would be higher, 20% said that it would be lower, and 56% said it would remain the same.

Mr. Cocheo said that a link to the full survey will be available Thursday on the ABA Banking Journal’s site, www.ababj.com.

Nashville, TN – GB&T Bancshares (GB&T) is the latest of a growing list of influential financial institutions to announce the selection of Check Imaging Solutions, Inc (CISI) to manage its Remote Deposit Capture Bank Platform. Among other factors, GB&T’s selection was largely based on CISI giving GB&T the ability to begin immediate deployment to new and existing deposit customers throughout their geographic footprint. The Bank also based its decision on the manner in which CISI’s solution offered transparency to their existing infrastructure and staff. GB&T will not be required to add or train any personnel in order to offer this full featured and 100% outsourced solution.

Check Imaging Solutions will provide it’s proprietary remote deposit merchant capture application as part of their Bank Platform Service. GB&T will now offer full featured remote deposit capture and remote lockbox through CISI’s iStream Deposit™ software platform. Under the agreement, CISI will also perform customer and technical support, hardware deployment and a warranty and replacement service. In addition, GB&T will utilize a branded remote deposit sales and marketing program that provides telemarketing services, collateral material and other data mining techniques to accelerate and maximize its market share. GB&T’s announcement conveys GB&T’s commitment to delivering tangible technology and business efficiency products to their prospective and existing clients.

“It is very exciting for Check Imaging Solutions to be partnering with such a prominent institution in the State of Georgia,” stated Matt Hamilton, President of Check Imaging Solutions. “GB&T Bancshares’ executive team understands the value that comes with a complete remote deposit merchant capture solution. They are experts at managing financial affairs of their customers and we are experts at managing remote deposit merchant capture for their customers. Together we will build a larger commercial depository base for GB&T Bancshares by implementing a very focused and proven sales and marketing strategy designed around our world-class remote deposit merchant capture technology.”

About Check Imaging Solutions:

Check Imaging Solutions, Inc. is a Nashville based provider of remote deposit solutions assisting banks and commercial businesses with a more cost-effective method of processing and clearing check items. Check Imaging Solutions and their partner, iStream Technologies, provide remote deposit solutions in 42 states and have over 2,500 users nationwide.

About GB&T Bancshares (GBTB):

Based in Gainesville, Georgia, GB&T Bancshares, Inc. is a multi-bank holding company operating seven community banks: Gainesville Bank & Trust, United Bank & Trust, Community Trust Bank, HomeTown Bank of Villa Rica, First National Bank of the South, First National Bank of Gwinnett, and Mountain State Bank. As of June 30, 2006, GB&T Bancshares had assets of $1.8 billion, with 30 banking offices located in thirteen Georgia counties. GB&T Bancshares’ common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol “GBTB.” Visit the Company’s website www.gbtbancshares.com for additional information about GB&T.

Nashville, TN–Check Imaging Solutions, Inc (CISI) announces the successful implementation of a remote deposit solution for Nashville based First Acceptance Corporation, US Auto (NYSE: FAC). The goal of the nationwide insurance company was to increase the productivity of its sales offices as well as automate its deposit process and consolidate it banking relationships, thereby reducing expenses.

“475 remote deposit locations were deployed, installed and trained within 60 days. Check Imaging Solutions, Inc. flawlessly designed, customized and executed the solution we needed. We streamlined 1,000 daily deposits to numerous banks each day into our primary corporate depository account”, stated Steve Harrison, CEO of First Acceptance Corporation.

FAC’s RFP received proposals from regional and national banks. “We were extremely pleased to have won the confidence of FAC considering the level of competition. Our remote deposit solution simply out performed the regional and national bank products and provided flexibility the others could not match.” said Randy Simoneaux, CEO of Check Imaging Solution.

The project plan included consulting, customized reporting and integration into FAC’s account receivables host system. Each office experienced an increase of as much as 2 hours a day in productive selling time, as agents now complete deposits in minutes and never leave their desk. The task of reconciling 1,000 daily deposits is now accomplished in only a few hours compared to the previous process which took more than 25 hours to complete.

FAC has more remote depositing locations than most community and regional banks will ever have using their remote deposit program. “While we do contract directly with large corporations to consult and implement automated remote deposit solutions, our focus is primarily providing regional and community banks with a remote deposit solution to compete against the national bank products,” says Matt Hamilton, President of CISI. “The remote deposit application is only 10% of the solution. The Banks’ problems begin when they try to manage the other major components of an effective remote deposit solution, such as hardware deployment, warranty and servicing, on-site installations, training, sales and marketing and customer service requirements. The Bank quickly realizes they do not have enough resources to allocate to these areas. CISI provides a complete solution to the Bank’s customer in hours, not months.”

Check Imaging Solutions, Inc. is a Nashville based provider of remote deposit solutions assisting community banks and commercial businesses with a more cost-effective method of processing and clearing check items. Check Imaging Solutions and their partner, iStream Technologies, provide remote deposit solutions in 42 states and have over 2,500 users nationwide.

First Acceptance Corporation (NYSE: FAC) a retailer, servicer and underwriter of non-standard personal automobile insurance based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Company writes non-standard personal automobile insurance in 12 states and is licensed as an insurer in 13 additional states. Non-standard personal automobile insurance is made available to individuals who are categorized as non- As of September 1, 2006, it leased and operated 458 retail locations. First Acceptance Corporation owns two insurance company subsidiaries: First Acceptance Insurance Company, Inc. (FAIC) and First Acceptance Insurance Company of Georgia, Inc. (FAIC-GA).