ProgressSoft won this tender against four international conglomerates in the field of banking technology, as it did in Qatar back in 2001, making Qatar, the world's first country to adopt a nationwide solution for electronic image-based check clearing.
A global trend is now on the rise towards digitizing the check clearing process, a process that has been using the same aging technology ever since checks where introduced as a payment method. Stake-holders aspire for reduced 'float', reduced fraud, cost efficiency, higher credibility, increased GDP and customer satisfaction to name a few. PS-ECC offers all of that, and some more.
In the United States, a Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21) was signed into law on October 28, 2003, and will become effective on October 28, 2004. Check 21 is designed to foster innovation in the payments system and to enhance its efficiency by reducing some of the legal impediments to check truncation. The law facilitates check truncation by creating a new instrument called a substitute check, which would permit banks to truncate original checks, to process check information electronically, and to deliver substitute checks to banks that want to continue receiving paper checks. A substitute check would be the legal equivalent of the original check and would include all the information contained on the original check.
40 billion checks are written in the United States each year. The banking industry says the new check- and document-processing changes that Check 21 will usher in will save billions of dollars that financial institutions now have to spend. Estimates show that for every dollar spent in processing a check, 20 to 40 cents is spent on transportation. The average check is physically handled a dozen times.
ProgressSoft is joining efforts with the giant American HP to bring PS-ECC to the U.S. First public demonstration of the solution in the United States will take place in Sibos - Atlanta, the world's most prominent financial forum. This invitation-only exhibition attracts all executives and technology managers from the banking industry.
In a little time over a decade, ProgressSoft managed to become the paramount banking technology provider in the region, as well as the world leader in electronic image-based check clearing. After Qatar and Jordan, PS-ECC is soon to be implemented regionally in several states on an international level. It is the only viable option on the lists of many countries in East Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
"After examining the live implementation of PS-ECC in The State of Qatar, we are now strong believers in ProgressSoft's check clearing solution" says Mr. Majid Laboudi, a senior Executive in HP, Director of Banking Technology, "and by pulling our forces together, we aim to contribute substantially to the check 21 act."
Sibos is scheduled to take place in Atlanta this 11-15 October.