The TALL Group of Companies, the UK provider of secure electronic and paper payments products, is to make its UCN Plus cheque fraud prevention tool available across the accredited cheque printing sector, at no charge.
UCN Plus (patent pending) has been developed with DIA Europe, providers of the Kappa cheque fraud prevention platform used by clearing services providers. It enables the variable payment data – payee name, amount, date, and so on – to be encrypted and hidden within a QR code printed on the face of all cheques issued by the TALL Group on behalf of its cheque bureau customers, and those customers using its ‘Checkprint Solution’ software for corporate and SME cheque issuance.
Now, other accredited cheque printing bureaus providing cheque services to participating banks and their customers can use this tool with the TALL Group providing access to its software via the Group’s dedicated API. This will be delivered at no cost under a licensing agreement with only extra integration support generating a charge.
Martin Ruda, Group Managing Director at the TALL Group of Companies, said: “The fundamental change to the UK cheque clearing system with the introduction of cheque imaging in October 2017 has seen more attempts of fraud, as criminals pro-actively look for opportunities in the new Image Clearing System (ICS). We developed UCN Plus in collaboration with DIA Europe, to help to ensure that counterfeit, forged and fraudulently altered cheques are robustly and automatically trapped and rejected wherever possible.
“However, we believe that the industry needs to work together to fight the challenges of cheque fraud and so we have taken the decision to make this revolutionary tool available to all relevant organisations. We are proud to be doing our bit and are committed to helping ensure that the UK payments systems stay one step ahead of the fraudster.”
