CHICAGO, Aug 5, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- As financial institutions move forward with check imaging and image archiving, the quality of scanned images becomes paramount. At The Association for Work Process Improvement (TAWPI) conference being held this week in Chicago, NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR) announced a step forward in imaging technology for the payments industry. NCR will implement advanced digital camera capabilities, known as the Image Lift Module (ILM), into its flagship iTRAN 8000 line of remittance and payments processing equipment. Customers using the new ILM will experience advanced image consistency with decreased adjustments.

"NCR has been the leader in the image-item-processing market for more than 35 years. This high-tech addition to our iTRAN 8000 line is yet another example of NCR's commitment to product quality, reliability and availability," said Lee Schram, vice president and general manager of NCR Payment Solutions. "This new release delivers increased efficiencies that will provide our customers with a transport that will meet their needs now and well into the future. It is truly the only transport in the industry in its technology class."

The issue of image quality becomes even more vital to banking operations as discussions continue on the draft Check Truncation Act (CTA), proposed by the Federal Reserve. This would allow for the image of a check to be acceptable in the clearing system as a substitute for a paper check. However, current draft legislation indicates that the bank that first imaged the item may be liable if the image-replacement document does not meet the quality specifications required by the CTA.

The improved ILM utilizes state-of-the-art imaging electronics and optics. Solid-state LED (light emission diode) is used for illumination instead of the traditional halogen lamps. The result is improved reliability, better imaging consistency, and enhanced features. The new ILM can concurrently capture and display uncompressed images during the first pass. This enables the applications to perform courtesy amount recognition (CAR) in real time. An enhanced software optical character recognition (OCR) is also bundled into this new release, offering better reading performance and greater cost efficiency than hardware OCR. The ILM can be configured on both the upstream and downstream cameras and is now available through NCR and its authorized resellers.

A new enhanced codeline recognition (eCR) is bundled in the package, providing superior codeline reading accuracy by optimally combining OCR with magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) data. The new technology enables NCR to offer imaging features that combine binary and gray compressed images in a simple, cost-effective package. Customers no longer need to be concerned about choosing between these two formats, reaping the full benefits of their application preferences.

NCR's iTRAN 8000 line is designed for institutions that desire cost-effective image technology for daily mid- to high-volume processing, with significantly improved throughput. The iTRAN 8000 supports a wide range of image-item-processing applications and is backed by NCR's global support services, help-desk support and on-site maintenance.

    About NCR Corporation

NCR Corporation (NYSE:NCR) is a leading global technology company helping businesses build stronger relationships with their customers. NCR's ATMs, retail systems, Teradata(R) data warehouses and IT services provide Relationship Technology(TM) solutions that maximize the value of customer interactions. Based in Dayton, Ohio, NCR (www.ncr.com) employs approximately 30,400 people worldwide.

NCR and Teradata are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries.

CONTACT:          NCR Corporation
                  Lorraine Russell, 937/445-3784
                  lorraine.russell@ncr.com

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