Wenham,
Mass. — November 26, 2013 — Lighthouse Consulting Group, LLC
(www.LCGLLC.biz), a management consulting firm and remote deposit
capture (RDC) innovator, today announced it has received its second
United States patent for carrier based RDC. The U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office issued patent No. 8,590,940 on November 26, 2013.
In 2011, LCG received a patent on a method which allows users to
deposit checks into their bank accounts from their offices or homes by
using imaging devices they already own, such as multifunction devices
(MFDs), general purpose scanners and FAX machines. No PC being
required. Carriers convey checks and deposit information. This
technology has been incorporated into CheckFax and CheckScan, which are
designed for small and home businesses that deposit 100 or fewer checks
per month.
“We’re pleased to receive the U.S. Patent Office’s formal notice that
our RDC system is now also patented,” said LCG President Bob Popadic.
“Our system is simple and convenient for the user, and at the same time
is designed for easy integration into existing RDC and check processing
systems. It is a unique way to deposit checks for the millions of
small and home business people who otherwise would be unable to enjoy
the benefits of remote deposit capture.”
The patent covers a system for remote depositing negotiable instruments comprising:
• A carrier in which to place multiple negotiable instruments, the
carrier having an identifier on a front and back side of the carrier,
the identifier being independent of data on the negotiable instruments
and being unique to the carrier; and the carrier being designed to
permit imaging of both the fronts and backs of the negotiable
instruments;
• An imaging device for separately generating and transmitting one
front and one back electronic image of all the negotiable instruments
and the unique identifier, while the negotiable instruments are secured
to the carrier;
• A link configured to permit the image device to communicate with a
network for directing the front and back electronic images of the
carrier to a remote location for subsequent pairing of the front and
back images; and
• A receiving unit at the remote location for receiving and storing the
separately transmitted front and back images of the negotiable
instruments and having software designed to break down the individual
front and back images of each negotiable instrument and, using the
unique identifier, subsequently pair the front and back images of the
each negotiable instrument so as to provide a complete image of each
such negotiable instrument.
The patent covers a variety of carrier types, carriers that provide a
surface area for providing deposit information, and methods for
preventing redeposit.
Download Press Release as a PDF
Small
and home businesses (SHBs) are willing to pay a per check premium in
order to make deposits from their office using special carriers and fax
(see sidebar – 2010-11 Survey of Small and Home Business Check Deposit
Practices). While the survey question was specific to our CheckFaxRDC
solution, we believe the results have general applicability to SHB
RDC. The average premium willing to be paid was $0.37 per check,
but there were significant relatively equal peaks at $0.10, $0.25,
$0.50 and $1.00 suggesting a segmented market. Further investigation
showed this was related to the number of checks deposited per month and
the value of the person making the deposit.
The premium derives from the perceived cost of depositing a check, and
how much one is willing to pay to avoid that cost (the $0.37
above). The perceived cost, which in the survey averaged $17, and
had a range up to $150 per check, is driven by:
• Number of checks per deposit,
• Number of trips to the bank,
• Time it takes to go to the bank, and
• Value of the person going to the bank.
The first three drivers had values that one might expect. The average
number of checks deposited per month was 37. For those depositing
100 or fewer checks per month the average dropped to 15. Trips to
the bank average 4 per month, with a range of from 1 to 22. Time
to go to the bank averaged 21 minutes.
What is surprising was the range of values for the person making the
trip to the bank, which ran from $0 to $500 per hour. While 55% of
respondents valued the person going to the bank at $50 or less per
hour, the other 45% placed much higher values, clearly indicating
non-clerical personnel making deposits.
Supporting this observation is an average business size of 6 employees
and inclusion of business types that typically deposit a few large
checks per month. A recent article on our website identifies those
industries. To get to 100 checks per month these businesses needed to
have 10 to 25 employees, which is fairly good size by SHBs standards.
The SHB market is huge, including 20.1 million non-cash businesses
depositing 100 or fewer checks per month. In aggregate they deposit 4.5
billion checks per year. Businesses without employees account for
16.8 million of the 20.1 million and deposit 3.0 billion checks.
The 3.3 million businesses with employees deposit another 1.5 billion
checks.
The portion of the SHB market willing to pay a per check premium is
large. Many of these businesses are highly attractive customers to
banks. Because of their low deposit volume a variable cost solution is
needed. Because the person preparing and making the deposit does
it as an adjunct to other responsibilities, the RDC solution has to be
simple and easy to use.
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Because
small and home businesses (SHBs) are a category we are often tempted to
think of them as homogeneous, or even worse as being like consumers.
Small and home businesses are not consumers and generally consumer
oriented RDC solutions do not meet their needs.
Some SHBs Do and Some Don’t Accept Cash
Like large businesses they identify
with their industry first and just happen to be small. They share
industry characteristics, such as: whether they accept cash,
credit/debit cards, and checks; and the average check size. Like
larger businesses, if they receive cash they need to get to a bank or
ATM. This makes them less attractive RDC candidates than those in
non-cash businesses.
Some Non-Cash SHBs Deposit Many Small Checks and Others Only a Few Large Ones
There are 20.1 million non-cash
small and home businesses depositing 100 or fewer checks per month. In
aggregate they deposit 4.5 billion checks per year. As the top entries
in the table below show, many desirable customers don’t deposit a large
number of checks. In certain industries, checks per employee are low
and the amount of the check is relatively large. To get to 100 checks
per month these SHBs require a fair number of employees and a fair
amount of check revenue.
Size to Have 100 Checks Per Month
Industry
Real Estate
Engineering, Legal & Management Service
Health
Services
Manufacturing
Agriculture, Mining & Construction
Transportation
Wholesale
Trade
Business
Services
Insurance
Printing and Publishing
Other
Services
Communications
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Employees
25
18
19
16
10
5
4
3
2
2
1
1
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Revenue in Millions
$4.0
$1.6
$1.5
$4.5
$1.9
$0.4
$3.2
$0.1
$1.3
$0.4
$0.1
$0.2
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CheckFax Remote Deposit Capture Technology Enables Deposits from Fax Machines and Multi Function Devices
Wenham, Mass. — June 3, 2011
— Lighthouse Consulting Group, LLC, a management consulting firm and
remote deposit capture (RDC) innovator, today announced it has received
a United States patent for its CheckFaxRDC application.
In
a process similar to banks accepting check deposits through dedicated
check scanners attached to PCs, the LCG technology allows users to
deposit personal or business checks into their bank accounts from their
offices by using imaging devices they already own, such as fax machines
and multifunction devices (MFDs). No PC is required. Carriers convey
checks and deposit information. Three Easy Steps: 1) Enter deposit
information; 2) Adhere checks to carriers; and 3) Fax. The now-patented
application relies on LCG’s expertise in RDC technology and
understanding the needs of small and home business that deposit 100 or
fewer checks per month.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted LCG patent No. 7,950,698 B2 on May 31, 2011.
“We’re
pleased to receive the U.S. Patent Office’s formal notice that our
CheckFaxRDC application is now a patented capability,” said LCG
President Bob Popadic. “We made it simple and convenient for the user,
and at the same time designed it for easy integration into existing RDC
and check processes. We invested a lot of thought leadership,
time and money into making CheckFaxRDC a unique way to deposit checks
for the millions of small and home business people who otherwise would
be unable to enjoy the benefits of remote deposit capture.”
CheckFaxRDC
allows the use of single sided imaging devices for RDC, while assuring
the integrity of the deposit and individual checks. A unique identifier
enables pairing of front and back images of checks regardless of the
order in which the checks are imaged or transmitted. The LCG software
receives the transmitted carrier images, including checks and deposit
information; extracts, crops and aligns the checks; assesses image
quality; pairs the front and back images of checks; reads check and
deposit data; relates and proves checks to the deposit; handles
exceptions; and sends the data into the RDC workflow.
The
patent covers a method for remote depositing negotiable instruments:
using a carrier that permits imaging of the front and back of the
negotiable instrument; securing the negotiable instrument to the
carrier; creating a unique identifier on the front and back sides of
the carrier; generating an electronic image of the negotiable
instrument and unique identifier; transmitting that image; and pairing
at a remote location the front and back images using the unique
identifier.
The
patent also covers providing an area on the surface of the carrier to
provide deposit information, and securing a deposit ticket to the
carrier. Also covered are a variety of carrier types and methods for
preventing redeposit.
Download Press Release as a PDF
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