To prevent this breakdown of an at the time critical system of payment, this act was proposed and passed.

Once a check is truncated, businesses and banks can work with either the digital image or a print reproduction of it.

At the item processing center, the checks are sorted by machine according to the routing/transit (RT) number as presented by the magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) line, and scanned to produce a digital image.

A batch file is generated and sent to the Federal Reserve Bank or presentment point for settlement or image replacement.

[citation needed] Check 21 has also spawned a new bank treasury management product known as remote deposit.

[citation needed] There are a number of patents relating to "check back collection systems",[3] including some owned by DataTreasury.