Investment bank JPMorgan has opened a new international image deposit centre (IDC) in Tokyo, Japan. The Tokyo IDC is the sixth such centre JPMorgan has opened in Asia. Centres have already been set up in Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong Kong.
“We are delighted to add Japan to our regional IDCs to ensure we continue providing our clients greater efficiencies in their business,” says Lisa Robins, JPMorgan’s Treasury Services APAC head of product management.
JPMorgan says the new IDC will enable its financial institution clients in Japan to clear their US dollar cash letters and lower cheque transportation costs without altering their cash letter operations.
The IDC uses imaging technology to convert clients’ US dollar cheque deposits to digital images, which are then transmitted for clearing. JPMorgan claims that as well as simplifying the cheque clearing process, the Tokyo IDC will help ease concerns about delays or loss due to customs inspections. Furthermore, the bank says users will be able to obtain the original paper cheque documents once the items clear.