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way that would be favorable to their capabilities and needs, movement in this direction is not only appropriate, but
payment alternative, in my view the mandated by all involved.
most important part of any study of
the U.S. paper check is what the con- While these same convergence observers acknowledge the current retail pen-
sumers' needs and desires actually etration or reliability of equipment is significantly less than 100 percent, they
are with regard to their choice of pay- believe that demand will permit us, as a nation, to drag ourselves hobbling into
ment method. this new era of "non-check" check acceptance at the POS.

In fact, any consideration of the di- While a number of imaging opportunities that would support reasonably
rection of the check in our economy priced [check] imaging at the POS equipment currently exist, the investment
must also consider the social or de- necessary for manufacturers to build such equipment requires both venture
mographic changes which will need capital and leadership and are yet two more stumbling blocks to the realization
to take place for any significant re- of a hybrid electronic check system.
duction in the use of paper checks to
occur in this country. As the decade of the 1990s comes to a close, it is nearly impossible to raise in-
vestment capital for anything check related. While it is true that little interest
Urban myths and paradigm shifts exists currently for anything that doesn't have a ".com" behind its name, it is

To enhance the efficiency of the check also true that the volume of check activity and the value of the paper check
collection systems, the Federal Re- system to society is completely absent from the minds of most venture capital-
serve banks continue to expand the ists.
use of electronics in check process-
ing, while others believe that the fu- Patti Murphy, self-described payments maven of the fourth estate, is senior editor at the Green
ture for POS checks is the truncation Sheet. She also co-hosts the Merchant Sales Podcast, and is president of ProScribes Ink. You can
of the check at the POS with settle- reach her at patti@proscribes.net.
ment through the ACH system rather
than through the traditional check
clearing system. ...

[T]he anticipated increase in the
speed of check clearing by POS check
conversion is limited at best, given
that most checks are already cleared
overnight under the current paper
environment. This means that only 10
percent of checks can be sped up with PAYMENT FORM GENERATOR
POS check conversion to ACH. ...
While the 1970s gave rise to the ur-
ban myth concerning the impending EASY TO USE:
death of the check, 1998 brought a
new convergence mythology. Like the
symbolism of stars, moons and plan- We Host Page
ets aligning to usher in a new direc-
tion or paradigm, so too the payment Pay Link
system mystics have begun to tell the
story of the "convergence" of check Embed Code
technology and needs.

So the myth goes, the retail world has Inventory
purchased MICR readers, the tech-
nology which has been utilized to Level Ill
read the magnetic characters as ID
ACH
can just as easily use the same data ACH
for settlement, and both merchants
and consumers want a better system.
C A L L F O R T R A I N I N G
The myth continues that when this
many elements of a concept come to- 8 0 0 - 2 9 6 - 4 8 1 0
gether in such perfect alignment of

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