The Future of Payments - Challenges and Opportunities

Federal Reserve Governor Randall S. Kroszner spoke today at the 2007 Payments Conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. In his talk, titled "The Future of Payments: Challenges and Opportunities", he commented on the future of electronic check clearing: "Perhaps the greatest current opportunity in the retail payments system is for the banking industry to move rapidly to the electronic clearing of checks. As envisioned by Congress, Check 21 has created a strategic vision for moving the U.S. check clearing system into the new century. The historic infrastructure for paper check clearing is consolidating rapidly. Banks are changing their internal systems so they can accept deposits and collect checks electronically and are increasingly accepting their check presentments electronically."