EPIC is comprised of several new and improved services for depositing and paying financial institutions that are designed to improve risk management and substantially reduce check handling and transportation costs. The Helena branch, working closely with Montana financial institutions, has developed EPIC as a prototype for future electronic check processing within the Federal Reserve System. These services are now available to all financial institutions in Montana. With these imaging services, institutions truncate customers' paper checks at the Federal Reserve Bank Helena branch, where an electronic image is filed. Financial institutions then receive an electronic file with information from the checks to be posted to customers' accounts.
Institutions provide a monthly statement where check images replace the original check.
This is an exciting opportunity to move the payment system forward in Montana. As one of 12 regional Reserve banks that serve as the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is responsible for making and carrying out monetary policy, supervising and regulating banks and bank holding companies, and providing financial services to depository institutions and the U. S. Treasury. EPIC is a registered trademark of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.