Epson Helps Desert Schools Federal Credit Union Crack Down On Identity Fraud

Epson Embedded ID Scanner Streamlines ID Verification Process, Critical in Preventing Identity Theft and in Improving Member Service

Epson America, Inc., a leading supplier of value-added financial solutions, recently announced that Desert Schools FCU (Federal Credit Union), the largest Arizona based credit union, has implemented the Epson TM-S9000 multifunction teller device at all of its 47 branch locations. With one of the industry’s highest quality ID scanners built into its devices, Epson’s solutions greatly simplify the capture and validation process for the teller at the point of customer interaction, leading to much improved customer service.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States, affecting nine million Americans each year. During the holidays, identity theft is especially rampant. Desert Schools FCU was looking for a solid solution in its continued effort to prevent fraudulent transactions.

The Conversion
About six years ago, Desert Schools FCU transitioned to branch capture. They needed to increase member service and increase identity fraud prevention. After careful consideration, they opted for a core conversion and completed deployment of Corelation’s KeyStone in September, 2015. They also chose Epson’s TM-S9000 multifunction teller device. Their goal was to make it as fast and easy as possible to collect vital member information, in one step, so branch personnel could spend more face-to-face time fostering stronger relationships. Knowing their members is key to preventing fraud. Another driving factor in selecting this specific model from Epson was the ability to reduce the number of devices they would need to place at their teller windows. They were able to consolidate three devices into one and minimize the footprint and clutter at their teller windows. They deployed the Epson solution at their teller windows to print receipts, scan checks and scan photo IDs into Corelation’s Keystone core platform.

“Because we launched this new equipment as part of a core conversion, the receipt printing and ID scanning was an overnight change for our employees,” said Theresa Fadel, AVP, Retail Operations at Desert Schools FCU. “We chose a very aggressive roll out phased over three weeks for the teller capture functionality and even had branches begging to start using it early. Epson’s multifunction teller device has been a great success and empowered us to better identify and help protect our members.”

Positive Results
Since Desert Schools FCU’s conversion they have experienced faster balancing time at the end of each day and spend less time researching outages as they are now identified in real time. Since the level of detail that is now available to pinpoint outages down to a specific teller versus an entire branch has increased significantly, they expect to see additional time savings within their back office support areas.

Secondly, within the first two weeks of post-conversion, an individual walked into a branch and attempted to conduct a transaction on a member’s account. Given that the member’s actual identification was scanned within KeyStone, the employee was easily able to see that the individual didn’t match the physical description or picture. When the teller questioned the person, he fled the branch without incident and the loss was averted. More importantly, Desert Schools FCU was able to contact the member and confidently relocated their services into new, secured accounts and issue a fraud alert.

Others have attempted to use stolen member checks or tried to open new accounts with the intention to commit fraud as well. With Keystone and Epson’s ID scanner’s quick ID verification, the teller was able to send a fraud alert to branch staff within seconds. In the past, they would have had to locate the suspect through video surveillance coverage and then issue the fraud alert minutes later.

Epson TM-S9000 Multifunction Teller Device
In addition to its two-sided ID scanner, Epson’s fully integrated multifunction TM-S9000 teller devices offer multiple advanced features all in one small footprint. They also feature fast check scanning and extraordinary MICR accuracy, and the ability to print cashier checks and perform endorsement printing. In addition, The TM-S9000 offers a fully integrated, award-winning TM-T88V receipt printer. For more information on Epson’s financial solutions, For more information, visit http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/ProductCategory.do?oid=-19615&UseCookie=yes.

About Desert Schools Federal Credit Union

Serving the Phoenix market for 76 years, Desert Schools is Arizona's largest credit union with $3.8 billion in assets, more than 300,000 members and 47 locations across the state. As a not-for-profit cooperative, Desert Schools prides itself on providing stellar service and innovative products to its members, and remaining active in community outreach and education in the Valley and beyond. For more information, visit www.desertschools.org.

About Epson America, Inc.
Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Long Beach, CA, Epson America, Inc. is the U.S. affiliate of Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, a global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality technology products that meet customer demands for increased functionality, compactness, systems integration and energy efficiency. For over 40 years, Epson’s advanced technology has been at work in millions of POS systems around the world. Today Epson’s Business Systems Division continues to bring industry-leading, open architecture, smart technologies to the point of service.