In an interview, Mr. Ballard said the banks' argument that they had embarked on electronic check processing — the process covered by his patents — long before his patents were issued is simply wordplay.
The system reduced check processing time by 80percentt.
So the checks were sent to another check processing center in Lodi, N.J.
The Wachovia Corporation will lay off 245 employees in the next year in Raleigh, N.C., as it closes a check processing center.
UNISYS CORP., -- Blue Bell, Pa., a computer services company, agreed to manage the check processing operations of Barclays Bank and Lloyds/TSB Group P.L.C. of Britain.
"Once you get the standards in place, it's a matter of logistics -- doing the appropriate background checks, processing applications, doing interviews, checking references".
Other companies are performing functions handled previously by banks, including credit checks, foreign currency trading and credit card and check processing.
But the banking industry, which has long sought to save money on check processing and rely less on paper, had already been moving in the direction of more electronic processing.
"But I am an expert at systems integration, and I created this complete end-to-end solution" for digital check processing.
Retailers say that because debit cards are similar to checks, they should carry the lower fee associated with check processing -- not the higher fee required of credit card transactions.
Check processing, monetary policy and other ways the Fed keeps money moving through the United States economy is explained in a video, and the center's collection of rare coins and currency illustrates how money has developed over the centuries.
