Feds Now Using E-Checks

For the first time, the federal government has begun using e-checks to make Internet payments.On behalf of the Defense Department, the U.S.Treasury's Financial Management Service issued the first ever e-check to GTE Internetworking to make a payment on a government contract. Approximately 50 government contractors are expected to participate in the market trial of e-check technology by year end, with a full-scale rollout by 2000. The e-check initiative was sponsored by Financial Services Technology Consortium, a not-for-profit research and development organization composed of banks, technology providers, academic institutions, and government agencies. Although mortgage lenders have so far not participated in the program, they may in the future.