Chase Teams With FIS for Check Clearing

JPMorgan Chase (New York) and Jacksonville, Fla.-based core processing solutions provider Fideltity National Information Services entered an alliance, which, claim the companies, will help encourage the adoption of check imaging in the financial services industry.

According to Carl Shishmanian, VP of global deposit services with Chase, the deal will enable Fidelity's financial institution clients, primarily mid-tier and community banks, to migrate their image cash letter business to Chase, one of the top dollar clearing financial institutions. "This is about enablement for Fidelity's clients and our clients," he says. "Even those without a relationship with JPMorgan Chase can migrate to our service."

Shishmanian notes this is not about image exchange. Rather, the deal encourages banks to send a mix of items in digital form for clearing instead of physically delivering them to the Federal Reserve banks.

Chase has similar relationships with other third party processors, Shishamanian notes. However, the one with Fidelity is significant due to the company's size. It has 50 image-enabled processing centers throughout the country.

Chase is already live with some Fidelity clients, according to Shishmanian. "It helps to know that if you're a Fidelity client that others have done this too and they can feel assured the clearing side is working well. It takes the guess work out of this for a small banks," he comments. Furthermore, the arrangement helps Chase as it expands into new territory. "We're changing our footprint with imaging, so it doesn't make a difference where we are. This gives us national reach."