Membership Overview
Any depository financial institution ("DFI") as defined by the Federal Reserve Act is eligible for membership in ECCHOTM. The total combined deposits of all ECCHOTM members is approximately $5.7 trillion which is more than 61% of the total U.S. deposits.
The need for ECCHOTM rule protections, offered exclusively to ECCHO members, is based on the fact that there is no law to govern the exchanges of check images. Without ECCHO’s rules, institutions exchanging images would assume an indeterminate amount of risk. ECCHO’s rules address this deficiency in check law by providing a common multilateral agreement between the memberships. Full, Affiliate, Participating, Associate, and Sponsored Members are protected by ECCHOTM rule coverage with other ECCHOTM members thereby reducing their potential risk.
There are five membership types available for financial institutions; Full Members, Participating Members, Affiliates of Full or Participating Members, Associate Members, and Sponsored Members. An organization, financial institution or non financial institution may elect to become a Sponsoring Organization rather than a member. These options are outlined below. Click here to download a copy of the ECCHOTM Relationship matrix.
Full Members
Defined as a depository financial institution that has paid the Full Membership fee of $200,000 and signed the Full Membership Agreement, that has been received by ECCHOTM. Full Members are protected by ECCHOTM Rules coverage for Image exchanges with other ECCHOTM members and are eligible for participation in the Operations Committee and contemporaneous ad hoc subcommittees. Additionally, Full Members are generally eligible, as referenced through the by-laws, for direct participation in the governance of ECCHOTM on the Board of Directors and as officers of the organization. Recurring annual dues begin with the seventh month of membership and the dues amount varies with the total deposits of the institution and its holding company.
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Participating Member
Defined as a depository financial institution that has paid the Participating Membership fee of $50,000 and has signed the Participating Membership agreement that has been received and approved by ECCHOTM. Participating Members are protected by ECCHOTM Rules coverage for Image exchanges with other ECCHOTM members and are eligible for participation in the Operations Committee and contemporaneous ad-hoc subcommittees. This allows for direct input in the ECCHOTM rules. Recurring annual dues begin with the seventh month of membership and the dues amount varies with the total deposits of the institution and its holding company.
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Affiliate Members
Defined as an affiliate of a Full Member. The Affiliate Bank must be a depository institution as that term is defined in Section 19(b) of the Federal Reserve Act. The Affiliate Bank must be an “affiliate”, as that term is defined in Section 2(k) of the Bank Holding Company Act and Regulation Y, of a Full Member. Affiliate Members are protected by ECCHOTM Rules coverage for Image exchanges with other ECCHOTM members and have the same rights and incidents of membership as a Full Member under the ECCHOTM Rules. There are limitations on this class of membership. The Affiliate Member would obtain information about, and participate indirectly in, the Operations Committee through the efforts of the Full Member with which the Affiliate Member is affiliated.
There are currently no initial or annual membership fees for an Affiliate Member.
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Associate Members
Defined as a depository financial institution with more than $1 billion in total deposits, with a signed and executed Associate Membership agreement. Associate Members are protected by ECCHOTM Rules coverage for image exchanges with other ECCHOTM Members. Associate Members have a direct relationship with ECCHOTM. Recurring annual dues begin upon the membership date and vary according to the total deposits of the institution. There is currently no initial fee to become an Associate Member. (Click here for a copy of an Associate Member agreement).
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Sponsored Members
Defined as a DFI that has signed a Sponsored Member agreement with an approved Sponsoring Organization (click here for a list of current Sponsoring Organizations). More information on Sponsoring Organizations is outlined below. Sponsored Members are protected by ECCHOTM Rules coverage for Image exchanges with other ECCHOTM members.
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For more information including pricing, please contact Scott Miller at 406-442-4994 or email smiller@eccho.org
Sponsoring Organization Overview
Sponsoring Organizations
An organization, financial institution or non-financial institution that has signed a Sponsoring Organization agreement with ECCHOTM.
The Sponsoring Organization arrangement is designed for organizations that wish to encourage their members/customers to exchange check image files under the protection of ECCHOTM Rules with other ECCHOTM members. By sponsoring financial institutions as Members of ECCHOTM, the Sponsoring Organization eliminates legal barriers to image exchange without incurring significant legal expense for those institutions. This arrangement allows the Sponsoring Organization to provide significant additional value to their customers/members while strengthening that relationship.
Sponsoring Organizations may be ECCHOTM Full Members, other clearing houses, trade associations, third party processors, etc. Most are organizations comprised primarily of members that are DFIs or whose primary business involves the provision of services to DFIs.
Sponsoring Organizations are eligible for participation in the ECCHOTM Operations Committee and may also designate one of their Sponsored Members for participation. Sponsoring Organizations do have administrative and dues collection responsibilities on behalf of their Sponsored Members.
For more information, please contact Scott Miller at 406-442-4994 or email smiller@eccho.org
For information on joining ECCHOTM, please visit our How to Join page.
