The Treasury Check Information System (TCIS)

Background

In January 2001, the Financial Management Service (FMS) began working with the Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) of Philadelphia to assess the current Check Payment & Reconciliation (CP&R) system and explore new technologies and approaches that could modernize and improve system efficiency for the check aftermath activities.

After research and demonstrations of existing commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) check reconcilement software, workflow analysis products, and data archive approaches, FMS elected to use COTS software as the nucleus of the replacement system. To signal that the new system would enhance processing, not just continue it "as is", a new name was selected - Treasury Check Information System (TCIS).

TCIS provides FMS with an electronic office environment for check aftermath activities and it manages payment data representing over two billion check payments and three million claims over a seven-year period. It also affords FMS the opportunity to move from paper to electronic communication with the agencies, as their processes allow. The file formats that agencies use to submit or receive information from CP&R did not change with TCIS.

Agency access to TCIS was implemented June 1, 2006. Using the Integrated View (IV), component of TCIS enables Agencies to access all claim information in one system. Agencies no longer have to use SecurID Cards and dial-in to gain access. Instead TCIS is accessed in one of the two following ways:

• Via the 'extranet' using User ID and Password (trusted partner). This method capitalizes on an existing trusted network-to-network connection between the Agency and Hyattsville Regional Operations Center (HROC).
  
  
• Via the 'internet' using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) credentials. This method requires a fob with User ID and Password.
  
  

IV is accessible through a standard web-browser, Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, and provides:

• A single front end to TCIS, for the CP&R system and Payments, Claims & Enhanced Reconciliation (PACER) On-line databases, thus eliminating the need for a user to sign-on and query each system separately
  
  
• Ability to view payment and claims information relating to U.S. Treasury checks and Automated Clearing House (ACH) payment information
  
  
• Ability to query by a specific Check Number, by Payee ID (when agencies provide payee identification information as part of the payment request) within a range of Issue Dates, or ACH Trace Number
  
  
• Ability to initiate a stop request and to request/view digital images of negotiated U.S. Treasury checks
  
  

For ease of transitioning, IV screens have a common look and feel for the screens that were part of the old system. Thus IV is intuitive and does not require training in a classroom setting.

• Training on application functionality is provided in the form of a Computer Based Training (CBT) CD
  
  
• CBT CDs are provided to end users upon completion of the enrollment process
  
  

In addition to the above capabilities, Agencies with legislative or delegated disbursing authority, referred to as Non-Treasury Disbursing Offices (NTDOs), have the ability to: 1) track the status of the files they have submitted for processing; 2) view all authorized check ranges established for their use in disbursing U.S. Treasury check payments; and 3) view all issue transmittals received and accepted by TCIS for a particular authorized range. This TCIS functionality is provided in the Transmittal Control and Disbursing Office Maintenance Subsystem (TCDOMS). TCDOMS training for NTDOs is also provided by CBT CDs.

Please sign-up for the TCIS email notice to subscribers E-mail Notification Sign-Up so that you are notified when the TCIS web site has been updated with new relevant information.