Two New Check Services Available

---

As part of the Federal Reserve's effort to introduce electronic services tailored to its customers' needs, the St. Louis Fed announces the debut of two new check products.

Once offered only by certain Reserve Banks, Electronic Cash Letters will soon be available to depository institutions throughout the Eighth District. By choosing the electronic option instead of the paper process, an institution can lower its check clearing costs.

To deposit a cash letter electronically, a financial institution must create an electronic file containing MICR line information and deposit totals. This file is then forwarded to the Fed via FedLine® or a Computer Interface connection by the paper deposit deadline. Eighth District institutions that take advantage of this service will receive a $0.001 discount per item.

Electronic cash letter services will begin April 3 at all offices. Contact your local account executive or customer service representative to determine which types of deposits are eligible.

Basic Early MICR, another new product, was developed in response to a customer's need to receive information on its check presentments before its Reserve Bank's normal MICR information delivery--approximately 7:30 a.m. CST for RCPC institutions. Now available in the Eighth District, this service may be particularly appealing to large institutions that would like to identify potential fraud or overdraft situations as early as possible.

When an institution subscribes to this service, the Fed transmits the MICR line data from checks drawn on the institution that have been processed by established deposit deadlines. This information is then available between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. CST.

The daily fixed fee for this service is $15, and the per-item fee is $0.007. Your local account executive or customer service representative can provide more information.