Starting in October 2004, a new Federal law known as Check 21 will allow “substitute checks” or electronic images of checks to be regarded as originals. Banks and processors will be able to save money and catch fraud much quicker with this new process.
This is how it works. The check arrives at the bank or processor and is scanned. The image is then sent to the corresponding bank that the check is written on. This saves the physical sorting and transportation of paper checks between banks or processors. Settlement is quicker and fraud is reduced.
What this means for you.
As banks and processors convert to this system, the NSF checks we process may only be check images sent to us by your bank or processor. Therefore if you require a hard copy of the check for hard collections or records, this copy will be all that you will receive. This is a legal copy of your check. You can use it the same way you would use the original check.
There will be no change in the way the CheckBack service works for you.
