UK cheque clearing firm iPSL to cut jobs; union says 600 at risk

LONDON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Cheque clearing firm Intelligent Processing Solutions Ltd (iPSL) is likely to shut seven of its nine British sites in 2018, it said on Tuesday, in a move trade union Unite said could lead to 600 job losses.

iPSL, which is majority owned by IT-services company Unisys (LSE: 0M19.L - news) Corporation, said the plan was part of a programme to introduce an image clearing system for cheques in October 2017, which would enable digital pictures of cheques to be exchanged between banks instead of physical paper.

"Its introduction will remove the requirement for remote data capture and processing, therefore reducing site requirements and a subsequent reduction in staffing numbers," it said in a statement, without saying how many jobs would go.

The board of Northampton-based iPSL is yet to sign off on the plan.

Trade union Unite said sites at Bootle, Bradford, Camberley, Chelmsford, Clydebank, Copley, and Tweed House were likely to be shut, while the company would continue to maintain sites at Northampton and Northfields.

It said it would urge the company to provide training programmes and outplacement support for affected staff. (Reporting by Ritvik Carvalho; Editing by Mark Potter)