New Check Processing Technology
This is low down. I know there have been a number of times when I have written a check instead of using my debit card.
Article from Kiplingers - Losing the Float
By Erin Burt
New technology will deduct your checks from your bank account even before the store clerk hands you a receipt. Writing a paper check will soon become more like using a debit card for customers of 11 large banks. If your bank is among them, it means you won't have the hassle of getting approval from the store manager to write a check. It also means you won't get the benefit of the float, because money will be deducted from your account as soon as you write a check.
The banks, which include Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, First Union and Wells Fargo, are linking their check-processing systems to ATM networks. When you write a check, the retailer will scan it to verify that your account has enough funds to cover your purchase. If it's accepted, your check will be voided and returned to you with your receipt, so you can't count on tomorrow's paycheck to cover it. Despite the advent of debit cards, automatic transfers and online banking, consumers are actually writing a growing number of checks -- anestimated 69 billion in 1999. Banks maintain that the new procedure will reduce the risk of check fraud and allow retailers
to get their money faster. As with debit transactions, bank statements will list where each purchase took place. BB&T, a bank in the Southeast, is already testing the checks-as-debits
system, and Bank of America will begin in June. All 11 participating banks should have it under way by March of next year.
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