For Immediate Release
PRESS RELEASE
UPIC Payments Grow 200% In
First Quarter Compared To Year Ago
More Than $1.2 Billion In Payments Each Month Made With UPICs
New York, May 19, 2008 – UPIC payments in the first quarter of 2008 jumped 200% compared to a year ago as a growing number of companies, government agencies and universities began using the secure account identifier to make more secure business-to-business payments.
A UPIC is a unique account identifier issued by financial institutions to allow organizations to receive electronic payments without divulging confidential banking information. UPICs are for credit payments only and minimize the possibility of unauthorized debits, checks and demand drafts. The UPIC was developed by the Electronic Payments Network (EPN), the ACH business of The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C., in conjunction with the financial services industry.
In the first quarter of 2008, EPN reported the following UPIC highlights:
§ More than 122,155 UPIC payments, up 200% from 40,688 payments in the first quarter of 2007.
§ $3.42 billion in dollar value, up 74.5% from $1.96 billion compared to the first quarter of 2007.
§ Since the UPIC’s inception in 2002, there have been more than 500,000 UPIC payments totaling more than $20 billion. A total of 481 UPICS have been issued to public and private entities by financial institutions across the United States.
“UPIC volume and usage continues to climb steadily across all industries as public and non-profit organizations are implementing UPICs to reduce payments risk,” said Rossana Salaris, Senior Vice President of The Clearing House, responsible for EPN. “Equally as encouraging, organizations are using their UPICs with greater frequency, thus driving the overall growth in UPIC volume.”
Across the board, UPICs are currently being used by public and private organizations including, Georgia Pacific, University of Florida, the Oregon State Treasurer’s Office, Dell Inc., Benefit Resource Inc., NACHA, Financial Medical Systems, University of Notre Dame and Verizon.
Fifteen banks are offering UPICs, including Citibank NA, Commerce Bank, HSBC Bank USA, JPMorgan Chase Bank, M&T Bank, Mellon Financial Corporation, PeoplesBank, PNC Bank, State Bank of Long Island, Sterling National Bank, SunTrust Bank, Union Bank of California, USBank and Wachovia Bank.
According to the 2008 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey, 71% of organizations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2007. Thirty percent of organizations reporting payments fraud activity were victims of attempted or actual ACH payments fraud in 2007. Failure to adopt effective internal procedures and bank fraud control services were the most frequently cited reasons for the loss. UPIC, provided by banks to their corporate customers as part of their fraud prevention solutions, was created to prevent ACH fraud by securing the receiver’s banking information.
How A UPIC Works
No system changes are needed to accounts payable, accounts receivable or cash management systems to use a UPIC. A UPIC looks and acts like a standard bank account number, and travels through the ACH network with the Universal Routing and Transit number. However, a UPIC can only be used for ACH credit payments. A UPIC cannot be used to electronically debit an organization's account or create a check or demand draft, thus reducing the risk of unauthorized debits. The UPIC can be printed on invoices, provided on matching gift forms and displayed on the Internet. Account information is kept private.
A UPIC becomes an organization's permanent electronic payment address. The portability of the UPIC reduces the effort required in changing accounts due to bank mergers or changes in banking relationships, including the cost of communicating new bank account information to trading partners.
To find out if your financial institution offers UPIC or for more information, go to www.upic.com or contact Sharon Jablon, 212.613.0178, or sharon.jablon@epaynetwork.com.
About EPN and The Clearing House Payments Company
The Electronic Payments Network (www.epaynetwork.com), a payments business of The Clearing House Payments Company, is the only national private-sector ACH operator in the United States. Its membership consists of more than 1,500 commercial banks, credit unions and savings banks. The Clearing House clears and settles more than 40 million check and electronic payments with a value of $2.4 trillion each day for financial institutions in the U.S. and around the world. The Clearing House's strategic forum brings together financial institutions to discuss and take action on payments industry issues, while its bank association addresses legal and regulatory matters of critical importance to its members. For more information, visit www.theclearinghouse.org.
EPN Contacts
Chip Savidge, Office: 336.769.5321, Mobile: 917.576.0957, chip.savidge@theclearinghouse.org
Greg Berardi, Office: 415.239.7826, Mobile: 415.672.2377, greg@bluemarlinpartners.com
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