VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Sept. 23, 2014) - Smiths Falls Community Credit Union is the first financial institution in Canada to launch paperless cheque processing.

Using a system developed by Central 1, which provides payments processing for about 200 credit unions and institutions across Canada, on September 18 Smiths Falls introduced the processing of cheque deposits using image processing. The change reduces paper handling and speeds processing.

"We are pleased that Smiths Falls was the first of our credit unions to pilot the use of capturing cheque images in the back office and transmitting the image, rather than sending the physical item to us for processing," said Oscar van der Meer, Chief Payments and Technology Officer, for Central 1. "We know that branch capture, as it is technically called, will be a major improvement for our members."

The new system will allow Smiths Falls to end the use of couriers to deliver cheques to a central office for processing, saving time and money.

"I want to congratulate all the staff at Central 1 who have developed this first for the financial system and say that Smiths Falls Community Credit Unions is proud to be the first credit union to move ahead with this new technology," said Jim Allen, Chief Executive Officer of Smiths Falls.

Central 1 is piloting branch capture of images with other credit unions and expects a full rollout to begin in the first quarter of 2015. The branch capture solution will be rolled out to one branch of each of 200 credit unions, followed by the remaining branches.

Branch capture involves using a secure scanner to scan all cheques and transmitting the data to Central 1 for processing.

In the spring of 2013 Central 1 and Westminster Savings Credit Union were the first financial institutions in Canada to introduce Deposit Anywhere, the use of a mobile banking app feature that allows users to quickly and easily deposit cheques from anywhere using the camera on their mobile devices.

About Central 1

Central 1 is the central financial facility and trade association for the B.C. and Ontario credit union systems. Owned primarily by its member credit unions, 43 in B.C. and 88 in Ontario, Central 1 represents a consumer-oriented, full-service retail financial system that serves 3.3 million members and collectively holds more than $95 billion in assets.

With offices in Vancouver, Mississauga and Toronto, Central 1 provides liquidity management, direct banking and payment service solutions as well as a wide range of trade services. For more information, visit www.central1.com.