BROOKFIELD, Wis. – Fiserv has introduced FraudGuard Digital Signature Verification, an outsourced service that digitally analyzes check signatures and compares them against a customer database to detect check fraud. Products like these will likely become more valuable in the Check 21 era as images will be more common and easier for financials to retrieve. Fiserv is one of the nation's largest non-financial institution check processors. "Check fraud continues to grow, especially at community banks. With this technology, a financial institution can reduce fraud exposure by examining a significant number of checks at a minimal cost," said Ted Umhoefer, senior vice president of market development for the Fiserv Item Processing Group. FraudGuard DSV automatically compares the signature on the image of a paid check to an electronic archive of previous signatures on the checking account. It uses multiple algorithms to analyze signature characteristics, and then identifies and presents suspect checks for review by the financial institution.