CO-OP Financial Services said Wednesday that its provider of remote deposit capture software, Ensenta Corp., has been granted patent protection for its risk mitigation software.

The software – which uses 150 different factors to validate a check's authenticity – is widely used by credit unions through the big CUSO's My Deposit check imaging suite, said CO-OP, based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Ensenta's protection as U.S. Patent No. 8,352,359, “System and Method for Performing Financial Transactions on a Network.” The company said it now has two U.S. patents issued and two more pending.

“The software allows financial institutions to use the web to decision and manage funds availability on checks by creating and enforcing policies, which associate risk factors with severities,” said Ensenta CEO Ed Viera.

He said more than 300 financial institutions now use RDC and cloud-based risk mitigation applications from the Redwood Shores, Calif., company.

“CO-OP Financial Services congratulates Ensenta on the Patent Office's decision to grant this patent,” said CO-OP President/CEO Stan Hollen, a member of Ensenta's board.

“It affirms our business partner's significant research and development efforts over the last 10 years, and the high quality of base technology available to credit unions through product providers such as CO-OP,” Hollen said.