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Running Ahead of the Pack: Page 3 of 4

Union Bank of California also is leveraging technology to take advantage of Check 21. The bank will invest in imaging technology to capture checks earlier in the process, according to Hernandez. "Our check clearing back office definitely will have to increase the use of technology in order to realize the benefits of Check 21 legislation," he says. "Technology will enable Day 1 capture requirements that will then initiate the electronic flow of check items."

The bank will invest in a decentralized model of Check 21 clearing, a process that Hernandez say results in more efficient image capture. "The decentralized model likely will be determined by a business case that will justify capture at the point of presentment or capture at a remote site," he says.

Hernandez predicts that technology investments surrounding Check 21 will increase industrywide as more banks seek to take advantage of the legislation. "I think you will see Check 21 momentum grow as more and more banks deploy solutions in an effort to realize the benefits of Check 21 - expense reduction, competitive advantage, retrieval capability and customer service," he says.

Hernandez says that the bank also is considering ways to leverage other emerging technologies, including Linux. "We have deployed Linux but limited to utility functions," Hernandez says. "We will continue to track progress in the larger marketplace."

In addition, UBOC will keep an eye on content addressed storage (CAS) technologies. CAS solutions eliminate the need for applications to understand and manage the physical location of information in storage media; the addresses that are created for content are specific so applications can use the addresses to find stored documents or content. "You are going to see more and more deployment of content addressed storage solutions," Hernandez says. "We are deploying one such solution to help us manage a wealth of fixed content, for example, with e-mail statements."