Check 21 and Savings Accounts Transfers:

Signed in 2003 and brought into effect October 2004, the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act is a law that allows for the creation of substitute checks, or truncating (going paperless) against the original. The act has advanced the processing of checks electronically and bypasses the efforts of sending paper checks. Whereby a snapshot of both sides of the check is recorded, and transmitted among banks or savings institutions. In the event a paper check is requested it can be produced simply by making a print of the image, in substitute form.

Check 21 is the reason customer stopped receiving original printed checks back in the mail, along with their statement. Though many savings institutions still currently provide customers with printed images of their checks, for their record keeping.

The act has resulted in quicker process times, where checks can be transferred not in terms of days but overnight. Of note however is that it did not re-establish maximum times that banks may hold the checks, as set forth by the Expedited Availability Funds Act and the Availability Schedule.