Congress Plans To Check TheFloat

WASHINGTON - (04/19/05) -- Six months after implementation ofthe Check 21 law, lawmakers will review the short-term effects ofand who is profiting from the new electronic check law. Expertsfrom the Federal Reserve and NACHA--the Electronic PaymentsAssociation, are scheduled to testify along with representativesfrom the banking lobby before the House Financial ServicesSubcommittee on Financial Institutions Wednesday. Among the issuesthe panel will discuss is who is benefiting from the reduced checkclearing time, or float, created by the new law, which giveselectronic versions of checks the same legal status as thetraditional paper versions. The group is also scheduled to discussthe progress of the conversion to an electronic payments systemamong banks, credit unions, merchants and consumers.