As check volumes steadily decline, hundreds of financial institutions continue to rely on the Fed’s Payor Bank Services. Many of these financial institutions are not ready to move to the electronic delivery and receipt of check images that will be required with Check 21 products. In response, Fiserv is offering products that can help financial institutions bridge the gap between the legacy world of paper checks and the mass migration toward electronic delivery of check images in both the short and long term.

"By 2010 financial institutions will be faced with Federal Reserve Banks discontinuing most non-Check 21 Payor Bank Services as it moves toward a more common check clearing industry standard," said Christine Barry, research director, Aite Group. "With some sunset dates already looming in 2008, it is increasingly important for vendors to be able to help their customers evaluate their options in preparing to transition to Check 21 enabled services as soon as possible."

"At Fiserv, commitment to our customers is top priority," said Teri Carstensen, division president, Fiserv Item Processing. "The market is clearly changing and we’ll be there to help our customers through every step of their payments transformation. We believe that embracing payments transformation and offering a complete vision of payment processing is the best way for financial institutions to realize the most extensive benefits with respect to operational efficiencies and increased revenue."

The Federal Reserve Banks (FRB) will migrate all Payor Bank Services and formats to Check 21 products, some of it starting in July 2008, with completion set for December 2009. The services slated for sunset on July 1, 2008 include most MICR file formats, MICR manipulation, grayscale image capture services and account number sorting/cycle sorting services. The services slated for sunset on December 31, 2008 include all MICR information services, MICR presentment and MICR presentment plus services, account totals services, FedImage® File Delivery and FedImage CD-ROM Delivery (excludes CD-ROM delivery for selected accounts). In 2009, Computer Interface/Bulkdata connections and MICR Presentment services will also be discontinued.

To address these crucial business issues Fiserv offers services to replace critical functionality currently provided by the FRB including MICR manipulation, account sorting and totals, and support for existing processes and workflow. The Fiserv Check 21 team will work with clients to develop a long-term strategy for image exchange and provide individual strategies for financial institutions to meet their needs during the transition period and into the future. An example of this is the Fiserv Clearing Network (FCN) that has been offered by Fiserv since 2005 as a Check 21 solution for electronic clearing. FCN currently has more than 700 members.

About Fiserv, Inc.

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a Fortune 500 company, provides information management and electronic commerce systems and services to the financial and insurance industries. Leading services include transaction processing, outsourcing, electronic bill payment and presentment, investment management solutions, business process outsourcing (BPO), software and systems solutions. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., the company is the leading provider of core processing solutions for U.S. banks, credit unions and thrifts. Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the financial services industry worldwide in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 FinTech 100 surveys. In 2007, the company completed the acquisition of CheckFree, a leading provider of electronic commerce services. Fiserv reported nearly $4 billion in total revenue from continuing operations for 2007. For more information, please visit www.fiserv.com.