o the list of workers whose jobs have been eclipsed by technological innovations, add check reader-sorter operators and the like at Federal Reserve Banks around the country.

In May, the Fed announced it was shuttering the check operations center in East Rutherford, N.J., which is part of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The Fed will reroute paper checks now processed through the New Jersey center through the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, beginning some time during the second half of 2006, according to a statement issued by the Reserve Bank System's payments oversight panel.

The Fed expects the shift in workload to result in a net loss of 80 staff positions, or about 2% of system wide check processing staff. Nationwide, the Fed employs about 22,000 people; today, about 3,800 of them work in check shops.

The Fed has been shuttering check processing shops for about three years now in response to falling check numbers. With a workload of just over 12 billion checks, the Reserve Banks processed 12% fewer checks last year than they processed in 2003, according to the Fed's data.

Since 2003, the Reserve Banks have closed 16 check processing shops. Once the East Rutherford center is closed next year, there will be only 22 Fed-run check processing shops, nationwide; that's about half as many Fed check processing shops as there were in 2003.

The Processor of Last Resort

While the Fed may further reduce its presence in the world of paper checks, it's bound by a decades-old law to continue clearing paper checks as long as Americans are writing them.

In other words, the Fed is the processor of last resort for interbank payments like checks, automated clearing house payments and wire transfers. That same law, known as the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980, also requires that the Fed break even on its payments businesses, setting prices that fully reflect the cost of each product offered.

To the list of workers whose jobs have been eclipsed by technological innovations, add check reader-sorter operators and the like at Federal Reserve Banks around the country.

In May, the Fed announced it was shuttering the check operations center in East Rutherford, N.J., which is part of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

The Fed will reroute paper checks now processed through the New Jersey center through the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, beginning some time during the second half of 2006, according to a statement issued by the Reserve Bank System's payments oversight panel.

The Fed expects the shift in workload to result in a net loss of 80 staff positions, or about 2% of system wide check processing staff. Nationwide, the Fed employs about 22,000 people; today, about 3,800 of them work in check shops.

The Fed has been shuttering check processing shops for about three years now in response to falling check numbers. With a workload of just over 12 billion checks, the Reserve Banks processed 12% fewer checks last year than they processed in 2003, according to the Fed's data.

Since 2003, the Reserve Banks have closed 16 check processing shops. Once the East Rutherford center is closed next year, there will be only 22 Fed-run check processing shops, nationwide; that's about half as many Fed check processing shops as there were in 2003.

The Processor of Last Resort

While the Fed may further reduce its presence in the world of paper checks, it's bound by a decades-old law to continue clearing paper checks as long as Americans are writing them.

In other words, the Fed is the processor of last resort for interbank payments like checks, automated clearing house payments and wire transfers. That same law, known as the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980, also requires that the Fed break even on its payments businesses, setting prices that fully reflect the cost of each product offered.