While faster and instant payments continue to pick up speed (see what I did there?) throughout the industry, those of us who have worked at community financial institutions know that many account holders still prefer the tried-and-true methods of managing their finances.
Since the Check 21 Act in 2001, Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) has enabled businesses to deposit checks from the convenience of their offices. More than two decades later, RDC remains an integral part of how many commercial clients move funds.
Unfortunately, as payment technology continues to evolve, so does fraud. While RDC may not receive the same level of industry attention as newer payment channels, it is not immune to today’s fraud environment. Duplicate presentment, altered and counterfeit checks and improper endorsements remain important risks for financial institutions and their commercial clients. A proper restrictive endorsement could make the difference for your institution in the event of an RDC indemnity claim.
Even though RDC doesn’t have a comprehensive rules framework that is updated regularly like the ACH Rules, periodically reminding RDC merchants of your institution’s RDC requirements and industry best practices remains an important part of a strong RDC risk management program.
To help support those efforts, we are introducing a new, free resource: the Remote Deposit Capture User Guide for Merchants. This customizable guide is designed to help financial institutions educate their RDC clients on both institution-specific requirements and general RDC best practices. Customizable sections allow you to define eligible items, endorsement requirements, check retention and destruction procedures and institution contact information, while standard content provides guidance on image quality, fraud red flags, check security features and other RDC best practices.
This guide is intended to complement your existing RDC operating procedures. Continue providing merchants with any platform-specific user guides, navigation instructions and troubleshooting documentation for your RDC solution alongside this resource.