The electronic check embarks a new era of banking

E-banking and making payments via debit and credit cards may have made the good old paper check a relic of the past for many of us. But for a large majority of the world’s population who isn’t as comfortable using electronic money and banking cards to make payments, the checkbook is still something of a lifeline. To make sure paying by check is still an available option for people who don’t want to give up their card details, researchers at Northumbria, Newcastle and York universities have come up with a paper tech check book that looks and works like the one that had been used by banks and customers before electronic banking cards came into the picture.

The electric cheque

Signed with a special pen, the electronic checks eliminate the possibility of fraud of theft and also eliminate the delay in payment caused by processing of checks. Each paper check is marked with millions of tiny dots and as the user writes on it, a tiny camera on the special digital pen records each stroke and collects a digital imprint. The user then fills the checkbook’s stub for personal record.

When the user returns home and syncs the pen with their home computer’s hub, the pen sends a wireless link to the bank’s server that Okays the processing of the check and the transactions is completed. Thanks to this clever system, the check cannot be used by unauthorized persons and cannot be duplicated. At the moment, the digital pen costs GBP 80 but with enough public demand, they could be sold at a lower price.

Via: Daily Mail