The two largest automated clearing house network operators are teaming up in an advertising campaign for electronic payments.
The Federal Reserve Board and the Electronic Payments Network will run the radio and print ads throughout May, which in their calendar is Direct Deposit and Direct Payment Month.
In 2000 the two began promoting the first week in May as Direct Deposit and Direct Payment Week, and last year it was made a monthlong event. This is the first time they are doing an advertising tie-in.
"Our goal is really to build consumer awareness and education about electronic payments," said Rossana Salaris, the vice president of marketing and educational services at the Electronic Payments Network.
The drive "could stop individuals from coming into [bank] branches to cash their checks," Ms. Salaris said. "We know consumer usage is not as high as it could be" of services such as electronic bill payment and receipt of paychecks, insurance settlements, and tax refunds.
Susan Robertson, an assistant vice president in the retail payments office at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said there are nearly twice as many electronic deposits as payments, but that payments are starting to catch up as online bill payment becomes more popular.
"I think there's probably not as strong a sense of electronic payments as there is with payroll and Social Security," she said. "Other uses are probably not as well understood."
The $1 million campaign is slated to kick off May 1 in Readers' Digest and People as well as in Sunday newspaper magazines, regional magazines, and metropolitan dailies, among other publications. The ads will depict everyday people doing fun things they cannot do waiting in line at a bank branch.
Elliott McEntee, the president and chief executive of Nacha, the electronic payments association, said, "Direct deposit is the most convenient way to get paid, and direct payment is an extremely reliable way to pay your bills on time, every time."
