About ICSF

Interoperable image-survivable Check Security Features (ICSFs), available today from several vendors, represent new and powerful tools financial institutions can use to help fight check fraud. In addition to providing general information about the ICSF framework and registry, this site allows you to obtain copies of the ICSF registry, schemas and application forms to register your company or security feature.

The ICSF framework uses roles to define the various responsibilities in the standard. These roles may be fulfilled by a variety of organizations. Any one organization may fulfill multiple roles, if appropriate to their business. The framework defines three core roles in a transaction:

• Check Acceptor — the individual or company that accepts checks for payments or deposit, and decides whether or not to initiate a request to validate an ICSF.
• Validator — the company that processes ICSF requests for validation and performs the technical and business functions necessary for processing.
• Verification Authority — companies or financial institutions that maintain the information needed for the validation of ICSFs.

The ICSF framework also defines the messages exchanged in the process of validating a check protected by a compliant security feature. The two key messages are:

• Get Mark Information — used to determine whether or not a Security Mark should be present on a check, and if a check is protected by an ICSF, to obtain the information needed to validate the check.
• Validate Marks — used to request the validation of an ICSF.

More information on ICSFs may be obtained by reading the FAQ on this website, the Draft Standard for Trial Use, which can be obtained from the ANSI store, or through the ICSF Special Interest Group, also sponsored by PaymentsNation. Please contact us if you need assistance, or if you have any questions.