BT claiming success with electronic checks.

Officials with Bankers Trust Co. in New York claim to have had a positive reception to an electronic check delivery service introduced nearly a year ago.

About 20 large mortgage companies are now using the BTCheque Direct service, which aims to cut administrative costs and improve float management for corporate customers by using computers to deliver official checks.

"It's an effective processing vehicle," said Robert Groody, controller of PHH US Mortgage Corp., in Mount Laurel, N.J., which is among the users of the service.

Checks Ordered by Computer

Bankers Trust claims to be the first to introduce a service of this sort, although Bank of New York Co. has said it is selling a similar service.

Rather than obtain an official check in a bank office, BTCheque Direct users employ their computers to instruct Bankers Trust to prepare the check.

The instructions flow over telephone lines to the bank, which debits the customer's account. The bank then sends data over a telephone line to a secured printer at the customer's location, which prints the official check, complete with the Bankers Trust's logo, and the signatures of bank officials.

This raises sensitive security issues. Official checks are guaranteed by banks, and the official checks prepared by BTCheque Direct can range in value from $100,000 to $1 million.

Sophisticated Security Features

To make BTCheque Direct safe, Bankers Trust claims to have incorporated sophisticated security features, including data encryption, audit trails, and authentication.

The service is targeted at mortgage banking companies because these firms often close deals with official checks. Bankers Trust has a third of the country's 100 largest mortgage originators as customers, a spokeswoman said.

Previously, these companies could have used computers to ask Bankers Trust to prepare official checks. But the bank would have had to express-mail the checks to the customers.

The elimination of express mailing can amount to reasonable savings for companies closing scores of deals every day, bank officials said.

'Relationship-Type Play'

But the bigger savings come from more aggressive float management. Users of BTCheque Direct can fund official checks a day later than companies that have official checks express-mailed, and collect the extra interest.

"The bigger savings are from delayed funding," said Michele Klinger, a Bankers Trust vice president.

Uri Kaufthal, a Bankers Trust managing director, said the service helps solidify relationships with key customers.

"We're looking at this as a relationship-type play," he said.

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