
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 23, 1995                   TAG: 9508230082
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

E-CHECKS ON WAY FOR E-MAIL ROUTES

Pretty soon it won't be, ``The check is in the mail''; it will be, ``The check is in the E-mail.'' A group of banks and technology companies said Tuesday they would design a system to create ``electronic checks'' to be used for payments over the Internet or other electronic mail systems.

The system would let a couple pay their phone bill by sending a payment to the telephone company over electronic mail, or they could send an electronic check to a child for a birthday present. A person or company receiving an electronic check could immediately deposit it in a bank, also via electronic mail.

``Anything you can do with a paper check you can do with an electronic check faster and cheaper,'' said John Doggett, a technology executive at Bank of Boston Corp. and head of the electronic check effort.

The electronic check would contain all the information that is on paper checks, including the bank issuing the check, an account number, an amount and the name of the person or organization receiving the payment. In addition, the check would contain a ``digital signature,'' a security code that could prove that the check was authorized by the account holder.

by CNB