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Solutions September 2005
Name:
Document Security Systems Inc.
Location: Rochester, N.Y.
Product/Service: AuthentiGuard™
Survivor 21
Description:
When Check 21 took effect last
year, an increase in check fraud
seemed to be a real possibility.
The law made it faster and easier
for banks to handle checks by
allowing them to exchange electronic
copies, but the security features
on paper checks didn’t readily
survive the scanning process.
Document Security Systems Inc.
responded with AuthentiGuard™
Survivor 21, check pantograph
technology that allows originating
banks to ensure the authenticity
of electronic checks. Words, logos
and designs are hidden into the
document background and become
visible when the document is scanned
or copied. According to the company,
even the most sophisticated digital
scanners and copiers can’t
prevent the security features
from being omitted.
“We’ve
tested the Survivor 21 pantograph
on the older 100 bitmap check
processors as well as the new
generation of high resolution
scanners, and our new hidden security
feature is surviving the scans
every time,” says Tom Wicker,
chief technology officer at Document
Systems and the inventor of Survivor
21. “It means the banking
industry won’t have to convert
or upgrade their current check
processing equipment. The only
thing a bank would have to do
is to change the printing of the
check itself by directing their
check printer to incorporate Survivor
21 into the printing process.”
The
company licenses its technology
to security printers, imaging
equipment manufacturing companies
and end users such as banks and
payroll companies, says Patrick
White, CEO. Recently, Document
Security Systems tested its technology
using Dayton, Ohio-based NCR Corporation’s
high-speed check scanners. Testing
confirmed that an icon designed
to survive the scanning process
was still visible on the electronic
copy. “This is good news
for the industry,” says
Denis Bergeron, director of product
management and marketing for NCR’s
payment solutions group. “It
addresses an important and immediate
concern banks have expressed as
they move towards check truncation
and image exchange.”
Document
Security Systems also partnered
with Boise White Paper LLC, a
subsidiary of Boise Cascade Company,
to launch a line of security papers
for general office use called
Boise BEWARE. The line, organized
into various categories such as
legal, health care and business,
includes AuthentiGuard technology.
