2011 AFP Annual Conference – RDC Hardware Solution Providers

RemoteDepositCapture.com attended the AFP Annual conference in Boston last week and it was encouraging to see strong attendance – over 6,000 attendees.  It was also great to see a large presence of Remote Deposit Capture hardware vendors.  We had the opportunity to speak with RDM, Panini, Burroughs, Epson, Digital Check, Canon and CTS about the products they were showcasing. 

RDM showcased their Synergy and Connect product lines, both of which are suited for merchant and merchant capture.  The Synergy is the only standalone merchant terminal and check scanner on the market – no PC is required.  The Synergy also incorporates a magnetic stripe reader for credit/debit card processing making it ideal for POS applications. The RDC Connect is also geared towards merchant customers. Like the Synergy, the Connect can scan checks, IDs and has a magnetic strip reader.  While a PC is required for the Connect, it offers a document feeder and can process more documents per minute than the Synergy.

Panini displayed its lineup of i:Deal, Wi:Deal (announced at the RDC Summit 2011) and Vision X scanners.  However, Panini was showcasing its latest release of the Panini Scanner Portal, which allows Panini customers to receive real-time statistics and information about deployed scanners.  Users can view the physical location of the scanners on a map, view alerts, usage statistics and much more.  As organizations deploy more scanners, this type of application will become increasingly more important.  Both Digital Check and Burroughs have similar asset management programs.

Burroughs had on display their Smart Safe, which addresses the question long plaguing RDC users, “you’ve eliminated the need to bring checks to the bank, but what do I do with cash?”  The SmartSource Networked Vault provides a solution by allowing a business to deposit cash into the safe.  The smart safe has a relatively small footprint and operates like an ATM: cash is fed into the safe.  The cash deposited into the smart safe is reflected in the bank balance in real time, allowing businesses to focus on their products and services rather than going to the bank.  Brinks also displayed their smart safe inclusive of a Digital Check Scanner.

Epson had their scanner lineup on display, including the CaptureOne, Workforce, TM and the newly introduced S2000.  The S2000 is a high volume scanner (200 documents per minute), with a small footprint.  Applications include corporates and high volume entities (such as utilities, municipalities, and check cashing stores). The S2000 also scans IDs and has a magnetic stripe reader.  Epson also had the S9000 on display.  The S9000 has similar features to the S2000, but includes a receipt printer.  Whereas most scanner/printers stack the scanner on top of a separate printer, the printer of the S9000 is fully integrated.  While the overall footprint is larger than the stacked versions, it has a lower height and requires fewer power and interface cords.

Digital check introduced the BX7200 line of high volume scanners (300 checks per minute), aimed at allowing entities to bring lock box functions in house.  The Digital Check also had the SB series of scanners on display.  The SB series can scan checks, IDs and full page documents and is suitable for remote lock box functions, small business or home office. The ConneXpress, a Network Attached Device, was also on display offering corporate offices to remotely a check scanner via Citrix or other remote terminal device. 

Canon had a complete line up of its’ high volume check scanners and personal scanners on display showing their capability to offer a complete range of capabilities.

CTS also had a booth at the show, and promoted its Kiosk check scanner, the SB50.  The SB50 is for use in ATM Capture and in Kiosks and can scan both checks and cards.

All-in-all, it was exciting to see so many RDC hardware solution providers at the conference and to see their new products.

If you want to see a summary of check scanners, please view the Scanner Matrix.