In addition, by truncating our checks at the Fed and viewing them in the Image archive, we do not have to provide storage for the paper items. Our ability to locate specific items is also much easier. These services are now available to all financial institutions in Montana. With these imaging services, banks have their paper checks truncated at the Federal Reserve Bank Helena Branch where an electronic image is filed. Financial institutions then receive an electronic file with information from the checks to be posted to the customers' accounts.
Banks provide customers a monthly statement with images of the checks replacing the original checks.
This is an exciting opportunity to move the payment system forward in Montana. As one of 12 regional Reserve banks that serve as the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is responsible for making and carrying out monetary policy, supervising and regulating banks and bank holding companies, and providing financial services to depository institutions and the U. S. Treasury.