Fed Announces Reductions in Check-Processing Facilities Around the Country

Source: AP via Cox.net San Diego

People are writing fewer checks, so the Federal Reserve is consolidating most check-processing operations into four regional centers and cutting 1,740 positions around the country.

The moves, announced Tuesday and planned over the next four years, will reduce the number of Fed employees processing checks by more than half, from the current 3,300. Most of the remaining workers will be located in four regional check processing sites in Atlanta, Dallas, Cleveland and Philadelphia.

A total of 14 current processing centers will lose 50 or more positions, according to Tuesday's announcement. The biggest reduction is scheduled for Minneapolis, where 210 full-time positions currently will be trimmed to around six to 12 employees by the summer of 2009.

The other Fed check-processing facilities scheduled for reductions of 50 or more are Baltimore; Cincinnati, Ohio; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Denver; Des Moines, Iowa; Jacksonville, Fla.; Memphis, Tenn.; Los Angeles; St. Louis, Mo.; Seattle; Utica, N.Y., and Windsor Locks, Conn.

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why this kind of creeps me out. Maybe I am getting old but I like using checks.

I write fewer than 20 checks a year, and don't miss it a bit.

I got through college working the night shift at a bank. Banks have about 2 hours to successfully process and prepare checks for the Feds. It's a bit like a pressure cooker because if you don't make it, thousands and sometimes millions of dollars are not processed until the next day. The worst was always the Friday before a 3 day weekend and that was usually when my Unisys machine broke down.

And this has been coming for years. This is NOT a good thing. Have you seen those creepy Visa ads that make it seem like the entire world grinds to a halt if you stop to write a check?

And more importantly - do you TRUST the banks to keep track of your purchases, and not fuck up your records? I don't - and I worked for Citicorp when they were developing ATMs.