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Converting X9.37 Image Cash Letter Files to Universal Companion Document (UCD) Files

If you send Image Cash Letter files to the major check image exchanges such as:

• Federal Reserve Board (FRB)
• SVPCO
• FIS Endpoint Exchange
• Viewpointe

then this article will give you helpful information about converting your current X9.37 files to UCD 187 compliant files.

The FRB has set the date of September 27, 2010, as the transition point for the adoption of  UCD 187 as the exchange format for ICL files going to and from the FRB. http://www.frbservices.org/files/communications/pdf/check/040510_ck21_validation.pdf

Currently, all of the major exchanges are using X9.37 DSTU 2003 as the standard for check image exchange. Because this broad standard has many optional implementations, each exchange originally published an individual "companion document" that described its unique requirements.

For over two years, the check image exchanges have been working to create a "Universal Companion Document" (UCD) that would combine all of the individual documents into one.

At the same time, the X9 standards group has published a flexible new standard for the basis of exchange titled X9.100-187 2008 (187) which supersedes X9.37 DSTU 2003 (937). 

The result has been a “Universal Companion Document” that contains the requirements for 187 compliance for all of the exchanges, but it’s helpful to understand that the requirements still aren’t completely “universal.”  The exchanges have retained a few of their individual validation rules, which the UCD 187 incorporates into a table of unique requirements.

When sending ICLs to the major exchanges, you will need to be in compliance with UCD 187, and the compliance requirements will vary slightly depending on the exchange.

Testing for Compliance

What needs to be changed with a current 937 files?

Using the AMP X9 VIEWER/ANALYZER, http://www.allmypapers.com/productsservices/applications/x9viewer.html
you can pre-test your current ICL X9.37 files for compliance to the full UCD 187 or to any of the exchange-specific unique requirements. The X9 VIEWER’s “Open As" option lets you select the exchange subformat for compliance testing as shown below:

Why do you need to test for a specific exchange?

Your files that currently conform for a specific exchange may not conform to the general UCD 187 or to another specific exchange.  As an example, the Cash Letter ID in the header of an ICL file is not validated by all exchanges, such as the FRB. For those that do validate it, each ID in a given file must be unique. If your file is not pre-tested against the requirements of a specific exchange, many error conditions may be presented that are not truly errors. By learning which elements of your files will be considered errors, you will have an opportunity to edit them so they will be accepted by the exchange.

Converting X9.37 Files to UCD 187 Files Automatically

AMP has software tools to automatically generate UCD 187 ICL files from current X9.37 exchange ready files. The software can be either used either interactively as an application, or automatically in a “lights out” process.

The AMP X9 LIB http://www.allmypapers.com/productsservices/sdk/x9lib.html

and the X9 QUALIFIER software toolkits will take a file that is currently exchange-ready and produce a UCD 187 compliant file for the same exchange. For current customers of the X9 LIB SDK, this simply means the function call Read937Write937 can be used to convert an existing 937 file to a  UCD 187 compliant file.  In addition, a command line call for X9 QUALIFIER allows access to the functions for batch file and Java level coding for file conversion.

In the X9 QUALIFIER application http://www.allmypapers.com/productsservices/sdk/qualifier.html,
files can be converted under interactive operator control, and the optionally licensed X9 VIEWER/ANALYZER application can be called directly from X9 QUALIFIER to see if they are any remaining compliance issues.

Current AMP Customer
Licenses and Upgrades

Free Maintenance Updates For X9 QUALIFIER

All versions of X9 QUALIFIER will support the conversion to UCD 187 as a maintenance upgrade. For All My Papers customers who have purchased the X9 QUALIFIER application or SDK and who are current with maintenance, the conversion tool will be part of the free upgrade. Customers should check with sales@allmypapers.com to see if they qualify for the maintenance upgrade. To receive the upgrade, customers must download the latest version of X9 QUALIFIER or X9 QUALIFIER SDK software. 

 X9 QUALIFIER also has a dashboard interface that lets the user convert files and then immediately call the X9 VIEWER/ANALYZER to test and view compliance. This requires the user to have a properly licensed X9 VIEWER/ANALYZER application installed.

X9 VIEWER/ANALYZER

Depending on your license, the X9 VIEWER application already supports both the X9.100-187 specification as well as the X9.37 DSTU. The X9180 feature bit in the license identifies X9 VIEWERs with the "180" generation of file license. Any customer with the X9180 Analysis license and who is under maintenance will receive the UCD Analysis compatibility as part of the maintenance update.
 
Download and install the License Manager Application here and run the application. You should see the X9180 License enabled as shown below:

Most customers have been encouraged to buy the X9 VIEWER application with the X9180  license knowing that the move to UCD 187 was coming.  If this license is present, then downloading the latest version of X9 VIEWER will provide access to the full analysis range for the different exchanges using UCD 187.

IRD PRINT SDK and UCD 187 ICL Files

The IRD PRINT SDK requires a new release to support all of the Return Codes that are present in the September 27, 2010 version of the FRB ICL files. This will also be a free update for all IRD Print SDK customers who are current with maintenance. Contact sales@allmypapers.com to ask about the free upgrade.   

X9 LIB

The automatic conversion from compliant X9.37 to compliant UCD 187 requires a new license in the X9 LIB SDK and in the associated runtimes.  

For AMP customers who have X9 LIB, a new license is required to programmatically convert X9.37 files to UCD 187 files. Contact sales@allmypapers.com for details.

X9 VIEWER and Printing IRDs

There is a difference between UCD 937 and UCD 187 as to how the exchanges implement the two formats.  The FRB is UCD 937 since it does not set the Companion Document Version flag, whereas all of the other exchanges do set this flag, so they are UCD 187. All of this is important in printing IRDs from AMP X9 VIEWER. Current AMP X9.37 VIEWER/IRD PRINT customers will be able to continue printing IRDs with no additional licenses (assuming under maintenance and updated installs). If, however, the file is a UCD 187, then an X9180 license is required to open and print the IRD. If already part of the license, this too will work with a new maintenance install. NOTE: X9 VIEWER without an X9180 license will be able to view the FRB files in an X9.37 mode but not using the UCD 187 rules.

Table of Licenses with Maintenance Upgrade

Remote Deposit ICL Files

UCD is for files sent to the exchanges listed above; however, ICL files sent to financial institutions as part of their Remote Deposit programs will probably be unaffected. Many financial institutions have their own Remote Deposit Companion documents for their customers, so conformance to UCD standards and specifications is not a consideration. The particular companion document for the institution will dictate and detail its unique requirements. Users should check with their financial institution and confirm if there are any new versions of the companion document that will require changes to the ICL files sent to them.

ICL Files

ICL files have two different data components:

1. Check images

2. Textual data

UCD and X9.100-187 are primarily concerned with the textual data in the records and fields of the ICL file. How the texts and numbers are formatted and which records and fields are populated and verified is the concern for financial institutions sending ICL files to be exchanged in the check image clearing process.

A tool for testing compliance to the syntactical (rules) and semantic requirements is necessary. Otherwise there is a long involved process of sending files to and from the exchange until the exchange says they are compliant. All My Papers (AMP) has such a tool, the X9 VIEWER, that analyzes ICL files for conformance and compliance.