A New ANSI Standard Could Extend Image Exchange Into New Uses

A draft of a new American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard for electronic exchange of checks and check data among banks and processors will be ready for ballot this summer, and could be ready for trial use this year, according to a member of the committee working on the standard. Stephen Gibson-Saxty, director of partner relationships at Check Clear LLC, Oklahoma City, which operates the Endpoint Exchange image-exchange network, says the new X9.81 standard will introduce extensible-markup language (XML) into the swapping of check images and electronic data associated with checks. The new standard comes just as the payments business is adjusting both to the concept of image exchange and to another relatively recent ANSI standard, X9.37, which governs the exchange of digital images and associated check data for settlement. Many exchange officials say X9.37 will prove suitable for some time to come as the fledgling exchange networks go live and expand. “We think X9.37 meets our needs just fine,” says Steve Whitney, senior vice president at the Boston Federal Reserve. Gibson-Saxty says X9.81 is not intended to replace the X9.37 image-exchange standard, but rather run in parallel to it as a specification for institutions that want to exploit XML programming. With its adoption of the highly flexible XML protocol, it will readily facilitate not only image exchange and clearing but also the flow of check data into specialized applications beyond the accounting and clearing functions specified by X9.37. These, he says, could include ACH processing or operations set up specifically to print image-replacement documents (IRDs) or substitute checks, paper printouts of check images. “It's a bulk image file delivery specification,” he says. “It's being developed so [financial institutions] can develop a new schema for new business purposes.” At least four national image-exchange networks are either live or planning to go live within the coming weeks. Endpoint Exchange, which has adopted XML, has been in operation for 18 months and is routing 140,000 images a day. The Fed plans to have its exchange in operation by October, when the Check Clearing for the 21st Century (Check 21) Act takes effect, conferring legal status on substitute checks. Small Value Payments Co. (SVPCo.), New York, which operates the largest private-sector ACH and connects large banks accounting for some 60% of all commercial checking accounts in the country, is bringing its first two banks live on its network as early as June. And Viewpointe Archive Services LLC, Charlotte, N.C., says it will be in commercial operation with a massive image-archive and exchange system by early in the third quarter.