ATLANTA – By this time next year Harland plans to have out a comprehensive new solution to thwart check forgery The new solution will combine image processing, data encoding and encryption, digital printing and statistical validation software to allow financial institutions and merchants to check the authenticity of a check's signature and the physical document itself, according to an announcement from John H. Harland Co. Proof-of-concept testing has been completed, with the pilot stage up next, the company says, a process that is "expected to culminate in general availability of the solution in the second half of 2005." "We believe that our approach to check fraud prevention is the first and only solution capable of catching forged checks at any point at which the item is presented or processed," says John Heald, president of Harland Printed Products. "This innovation has the potential to dramatically limit fraud losses to merchants, financial institutions and most importantly, consumers, all without requiring any change in consumer behavior," Heald says.