In the search for ways to cut costs and operate more efficiently, banks and financial institutions have turned their attention to check processing. This is not surprising because checks, which represent 80 percent of non-cash payments, have been growing in number at a rate of 3 to 4 percent annually. Today, banks process more than 63 billion checks at thousands of locations each year. The current paper-based check processing system has many limitations. In addition, inefficiencies and high error rates have become burdensome and costly.
Check fraud continues to be a growing problem.
Meanwhile, competitive and regulatory pressures are leading banks to make funds available to depositors sooner. Emerging image and communications technologies offer opportunities to overcome these limitations. It will cost less to process a check using imaging and electronic transport than with current technology. Less paper and faster processing will produce increased productivity and labor-saving cost benefits. A major benefit will be realized by reducing or potentially eliminating transportation costs.