Major banks want to save money in processing a huge, but declining, volume of checks.
Done.
Intelligent Processing Solutions Ltd. (iPSL) – a co-creation of Unisys and banking partners to provide outsourcing solutions to the payments industry that is the largest processor of checks in the U.K.
The Future of Checks
Despite the well-documented decline in check usage, the check and credit processing industry in the U.K. handles 3 billion items per year. U.K. check volumes peaked in 1992 and have been falling since at around 4% per year. Industry estimates suggest that a faster decline is possible, up to 15% per year, if the adoption of alternative payment methods is accelerated by marketing strategies and by new channels, such as the Internet.
A high proportion of centralized check and credit clearing costs are fixed, and economies of scale are critical to making this industry more efficient. Continued investment is required to ensure a smooth operation, provide modern systems that meet industry requirements, and drive major financial and operational benefits elsewhere within the banking system. Check and credit clearing also benefits from "economies of focus," achieving better operational performance when it is a core element of an organization's activity.
A New Venture for a New Economy
To address the challenges of the payment industry in the 21st century, Unisys and its partners have formed Intelligent Processing Solutions Ltd. (iPSL). The company is 51% owned by Unisys, with Barclays and LloydsTSB each holding a 24.5% stake. Run as a separate commercial business, iPSL's primary business is the provision of check processing services to financial institutions.
Its operational capabilities are impressive. Six live processing sites across the UK, 1 dedicated Disaster Recovery Site and 2500 staff. The company offers a full range of services in check and remittance processing, research and adjustment, exceptions processing, image services and systems/processes to check for fraud, signatures and technicalities.
iPSL will bring together the best technology, industry expertise and skill to create the U.K.'s largest paper payments processor. iPSL services will enable financial institutions to focus on their core business, at the same time offsetting the impact of declining check volumes. In the long term, iPSL will offer innovative e-business functionality whilst further enhancing existing services, such as remittance processing, image services and electronic transaction processing.
iPSL is the largest single processor of checks in the U.K., with the following clients:
- Barclays Bank
- Lloyds TSB
- GE Capital
Existing Unisys Payments Services Ltd. (UPSL) clients:
- Girobank
- Co-operative Bank
- National Australia Group (Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks)
- American Express
- Northern Bank
The Business Benefits
With an excellent reputation built on its existing customer base, iPSL offers not only the benefits of economies of scale, innovative technology and competitive advantage but also:
- The scale and efficiencies it can apply in check/remittance processing, and in other parts of the check supply chain
- Through its parentage, an unrivalled knowledge of financial processes. In addition, 50% of the world's checks are processed on Unisys equipment
- The technical and managerial expertise, experience and depth it brings together from the founding businesses
- A fully integrated end to end service
- iPSL delivers certainty of benefit through contractually agreed service levels
