how did banks clear checks and get funds from other banks before computerization?

Question

how did banks clear checks and get funds from other banks before computerization?

In: 6540

Answer 1

I don’t know if it is true or not, but there used to be a story on the internet that someone got away with bank fraud by treating their checks with a chemical that would disengage them between 24 and 36 hours.

This allowed them to pay a merchant, the merchant would deposit the check, it would make through the first part of the check processing where the merchant’s bank would see and record the check, but then it would turn to dust in a bag while in transit to the bank of the person who wrote the check. For some reason this allowed them to keep it up for a long time until one day they missed a corner of a check that did not turn to dust, and were found out.