Bisys unit tests check image service on Net.(Document Solutions Inc., Internet)(Brief Article)

Document Solutions Inc. is about to test a service that lets businesses and consumers view images of paid checks on the Internet

The unit of Bisys Group, Hackensack, N.J., provides check imaging software to about 700 community banks. The on-line service, to be called InterCheck, is in the final stages of 18 months of development, officials said. The company said an unidentified ban k will begin testing next month.

Robert Woods, product director at Document Solutions, noted the "solid need in the corporate world for this type of service," and added, "any customer could have access to their checks."

He foresees customers visiting their banks' home pages, then keying in account numbers and passwords to view their checks. Customers would link to Document Solutions' Web-based servers through secure gateways.

The company will use search criteria to locate any check on a given bank's check processing storage system, where it would be stored for up to 90 days.

A growing number of banks, including Banc One Corp. and Chase Manhattan Corp., are looking to the Internet to post checks on-line, typically for corporate services for check fraud prevention.

Lawrence Forman of Ernst & Young, New York, said the service would "make sense" for corporate customers but questioned the need for consumers. "It's very interesting and sexy," he said, but perhaps an example of "overkill."