Mechanism for expediting the deposit, transport and submission of checks into the payment system

Claim 1

A system for effecting the deposit, settlement and submission into a payment system for collection of funds represented by financial instruments drawn on different institutions that are received by a payee at a first location, said first location determined by the payee remote from the payee's collecting and clearing bank, comprising: a sorter at said first location established by the payee (1) for receiving the financial instruments and (2) for sorting the instruments according to predetermined sort pattern categories determined by the collecting and clearing bank; a printer at said first location for applying to the instruments at a time before, during or after sorting of the instruments, a separate indorsement on behalf of each of the payee and the collecting and clearing bank with respect to each instrument received; the sorter further assembling the sorted instruments with the applied indorsements into discrete groups with respect to the predetermined sort pattern categories; a means at the first location for preparing one or more cash letters associated with each assembled group of instruments; a communication link between the first location and the collecting and clearing bank for reporting to the bank information in the cash letters in anticipation of a deposit of funds in the payee's account at the payee's collecting and clearing bank corresponding to the value of the one or more cash letters; transport means for delivering the groups of instruments and the one or more cash letters from the first location to a second location for receipt into the payment system according to parameters determined by the payee's collecting and clearing bank; and a central processing unit and communication link providing a coordination between the payee and the payee's collecting and clearing bank which predetermines the timing and monitors the transport of the sorted instruments and the cash letters associated therewith and coordinates the recordation of the deposit of the funds represented by the instruments with the collecting and clearing bank in a sequence coordinated with the timing of a settlement of accounts in the check payment system.

Claim 2

A system for effecting the deposit, settlement and submission into a payment system for collection of funds represented by financial instruments drawn on different institutions that are received by a payee at a first location, said first location determined by the payee remote from the payee's collecting and clearing bank, comprising: a sorter at said first location established by the payee (1) for receiving the financial instruments and (2) for sorting the instruments according to predetermined sort pattern categories determined by the collecting and clearing bank; a printer at said first location for applying to the instruments at a time before, during or after sorting of the instruments, a separate indorsement on behalf of each of the payee and the collecting and clearing bank with respect to each instrument received; the sorter further assembling the sorted instruments with the applied indorsements into discrete groups with respect to the predetermined sort pattern categories; a means at the first location for preparing one or more cash letters associated with each assembled group of instruments; a communication link between the first location and the collecting and clearing bank for reporting to the bank information in the cash letters in anticipation of a deposit of funds in the payee's account at the payee's collecting and clearing bank corresponding to the value of the one or more cash letters; transport means for delivering the groups of instruments and the one or more cash letters from the first location to a second location for receipt into the payment system according to parameters determined by the payee's collecting and clearing bank; and a central processing unit and communication link providing a coordination between the payee and the payee's collecting and clearing bank which predetermines the timing and monitors the transport of the sorted instruments and the cash letters associated therewith and coordinates the recordation of the deposit of the funds represented by the instruments with the collecting and clearing bank in a sequence coordinated with the timing of a settlement of accounts in the check payment system.

Claim 13

A system for effecting the deposit, settlement and submission into a payment system for collection of funds represented by financial instruments drawn on different institutions that are received by different payees and submitted to a bank of first deposit for submission into a check payment system on behalf of a bank of subsequent deposit comprising: a sorter at a first location (1) for receiving the financial instruments from one or more banks of first deposit and payees and (2) for sorting the instruments according to predetermined sort pattern categories determined by the bank of subsequent deposit for collecting and clearing; a means at said first location for applying separate indorsements to the instruments on behalf of each of the one or more banks of first deposit and payees, and the bank of subsequent deposit with respect to each instrument received; the sorter further assembling the sorted instruments into discrete groups with respect to the predetermined sort pattern categories; a means for preparing one or more cash letters associated with each assembled group of sorted instruments; a communication link between the first location and the one or more banks of first deposit and the payee, and the bank of subsequent deposit for reporting to the respective banks and payee information in the cash letters in anticipation of a deposit in the bank of first deposit and payee's account at the bank of subsequent deposit corresponding to the value of the cash letter; transport means for delivering the groups of instruments and the one or more cash letters from the first location to a second location for introduction into the payment system according to parameters determined by the bank of subsequent deposit; and a control unit interconnecting the banks and predetermining the timing and monitoring the transport of the sorted instruments so as to coordinate the recordation of the deposit of the funds represented by the instruments in the account with the collecting and clearing bank in a sequence coordinated with the timing of settlement in the check payment system.

Claim 14

A system for effecting the deposit, settlement and submission into a payment system for collection of funds represented by financial instruments drawn on different institutions that are received by different payees and submitted to a bank of first deposit for submission into a check payment system on behalf of a bank of subsequent deposit comprising: a sorter at a first location (1) for receiving the financial instruments from one or more banks of first deposit and payees and (2) for sorting the instruments according to predetermined sort pattern categories determined by the bank of subsequent deposit for collecting and clearing; a means at said first location for applying separate indorsements to the instruments on behalf of each of the one or more banks of first deposit and payees, and the bank of subsequent deposit with respect to each instrument received; the sorter further assembling the sorted instruments into discrete groups with respect to the predetermined sort pattern categories; a means for preparing one or more cash letters associated with each assembled group of sorted instruments; a communication link between the first location and the one or more banks of first deposit and the payee, and the bank of subsequent deposit for reporting to the respective banks and payee information in the cash letters in anticipation of a deposit in the bank of first deposit and payee's account at the bank of subsequent deposit corresponding to the value of the cash letter; transport means for delivering the groups of instruments and the one or more cash letters from the first location to a second location for introduction into the payment system according to parameters determined by the bank of subsequent deposit; and a control unit interconnecting the banks and predetermining the timing and monitoring the transport of the sorted instruments so as to coordinate the recordation of the deposit of the funds represented by the instruments in the account with the collecting and clearing bank in a sequence coordinated with the timing of settlement in the check payment system.