Use this list of Fast Facts to answer questions your internal staff might have about check conversion. This information can also be used to inform and promote the use of check conversion to your individual customers and business customers:

• The United States relies on paper checks more than any other industrialized nation, with check volume peaking in the mid-1990s. Since those peak years, check volume has been declining.
• Due to accelerated processing times and quicker notification of account issues, the check conversion process results in fewer bad checks, earlier fraud detection, and fewer errors.
• Check conversion relies on the ACH Network, the same secure network used for Direct Deposit and Direct Payment.
• In 2007, annual volume for Accounts Receivable (ARC) check conversion grew by more than 600 million payments to 3.5 billion, an increase of 23 percent. ARC accounted for 33 percent of financial institutions' ACH transaction growth in 2007.
• Check conversion has little impact on the way your individual customers pay their bills. Individuals can still choose to write paper checks and may notice only slight differences. For example, they may not receive a cancelled check or check image with the statement. Also, checks may be listed with electronic payments on individual account statements. Be specific when explaining to your customers how your financial institution displays this information on their statements.
• There is an environmental impact to using paper checks. In addition to the natural resources used to manufacture and print paper checks, processing the checks relies heavily on our nation's transportation systems, including trucks and airplanes, and costs a great deal in the fuel needed to operate these vehicles. Every year, paper checks use more than 674 million gallons of fuel and add more than 3.6 million tons of CO2 to the environment.