Kern Schools Federal Credit Union Increases Security of ATM Deposits; Credit union selects TWS' IMAGECENTER

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Kern Schools Federal Credit Union (KSFCU), with more than 140,000 members and $1.3 billion in assets, selected several of the IMAGECENTER modules including ALERTMANAGER BY TWS (ALERTMANAGER) a real-time fraud prevention solution and OMEGA BY TWS (OMEGA), a Microsoft(R).NET-based ATM deposit management solution that automates the processing and management of an ATM deposit.

KSFCU also became one of the first TWS customers to select the Quantum 600, a new product offering from Unisys that complements the TWS offerings. TWS Systems, Inc. is a leader in ATM deposit management, fraud prevention and transaction processing solutions for financial institutions.

The Bakersfield, Calif.-based KSFCU was given a live demonstration of the features and capabilities of the TWS solutions during the 14th annual TWS client conference in Clearwater, Fla. Using the latest in automated technologies, IMAGECENTER will significantly reduce incidences of fraud coming into the credit union while at the same time improving the overall efficiency of the institution. Users have reported a reduction of manual inputting of data by more than 70 percent. Meanwhile ALERTMANAGER has helped cut ATM deposit fraud by more 60 percent for one of the nation's largest credit union. Both solutions will allow KSFCU to dedicate more time to member service and an opportunity to increase its competitive advantage in an increasingly aggressive financial services market.

"We have heard from our peers about the level of automation and attention to details that these solutions offer and we had an opportunity to see for ourselves during the client conference," said Barbara Irle, senior vice president of operations and branch administration for KSFCU. "By eliminating the potential for fraud and reducing the amount of staffers needed to process the transactions, IMAGECENTER gives us the opportunity to reward our members with greater access to all the services our credit union has to offer."

Using ALERTMANAGER, KSFCU is able to customize fraud prevention criteria to meet its specific needs. The system reviews each transaction at the institution and automatically sends an alert or warning when any of the pre-set fraud prevention criteria is met. With ALERTMANAGER, KSFCU receives constant updates about possible fraudulent transactions. In addition, the credit union has access to an online network where they can get information on fraud activity and updates on future training conferences.

"We developed the IMAGECENTER suite which includes Omega and AM, knowing that credit unions needed an open solution that would not only help eliminate fraud, but also enhance transaction processing for the entire institution," said Milton King, president of TWS. "The open nature of the solution supports both distributed and centralized processing environments, which will give Kern Schools an immediate advantage."

IMAGECENTER will enable KSFCU to streamline and automate its ATM deposit processing from start to finish. Using image processing and handwriting recognition (CAR/LAR/ICR) technology to read deposit content, IMAGECENTER dramatically reduces data entry for ATM reconciliation. Other key components of IMAGECENTER include the solution's ability to cut fraudulent transactions by 70 percent; a disaster recovery system, which stores and re-routes check images and data; and a lifecycle envelope management feature which tracks ATM deposits, giving managers the flexibility to schedule personnel based on the predicted volume of deposits.

About Kern Schools Federal Credit Union

Bakersfield, Calif.-based Kern Schools Federal Credit Union is a full-service financial institution that was founded in 1938 by a small group of dedicated and concerned teachers who met for the purpose of organizing a Credit Union for the Kern County public school teachers. The first Credit Union "office" was a tiny room in the library of Bakersfield High School, and the one-person staff was an unpaid volunteer. At the end of the first year of operations, Kern Schools Federal Credit Union consisted of 141 members with $1,336.84 in assets. Two hundred dollars was the maximum loan amount a member could borrow at one time, with the interest rate being one percent. Our dividend paid on savings during this era was three percent. Today the credit union has more than 140,000 members and assets of more than $1.3 billion.

About TWS Systems, Inc.

Clearwater, Fla.-based TWS Systems, Inc. is a privately held financial services company that is the first company to offer total deposit automation with image-based ATMs. TWS is the leading provider of transaction processing solutions and fraud prevention tools for the credit union industry, and is the largest provider of ATM and fraud management solutions for banks.

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