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The Maine CU League's Elise Baldacci, Vice President of Governmental Affairs, participated in a webinar held by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) that provided an overview of an issue that has gained significant momentum in recent weeks - USAA Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) patent claims. Elise Baldacci said that, although "we are not aware of any Maine CU being contacted, the League is closely monitoring the issue and the webinar provided a good overview."
In recent weeks, credit unions that utilize remote deposit capture (RDC) technnology are receiving letters from a law firm "inviting" them to negotiate a patent licensing deal for the use of the technology. The law firm that represents USAA claims to have developed the technology that credit unions are using. Most credit unions use vendors for RDC services and products; however, it appears that USAA is asserting patent infringement claims against credit unions directly instead of vendors. If your credit union offers or plans to offer RDC services to members, it needs to be aware of the USAA's claims.
According to the webinar, "USAA has stated that they have a very global member base and they worked internally (around 2009) through their R & D Development team to develop RDC technology. The technology has become ubiquitous and there are other companies that have RDC that have patents in the space. CUNA is just started t research the issue and is determing the best course of action moving forward. USAA is using a common tactic and the reason why they aren’t going after the vendors is because they want to go after the user first. Why? Because after they go after the vendor, all of the downstream users and buyers get an implied license."
Baldacci said CUNA is just starting to research the issue and is determing the best course of action moving forward. "We will look for updates as this continues, and provide updates to our credit unions."