1.   And there are electronic checks, a way for everyone from your grandmother to your health insurance company to send money to your account without printing anything on paper.

2.   At least one bill before Congress would make such electronic checks mandatory.

3.   BayBanks says this is a feature to protect customers from bouncing electronic checks.

4.   A debit card, by comparison, is more like an electronic check.

5.   A person or company receiving an electronic check could immediately deposit it in a bank, also via electronic mail.

6.   But any electronic check system inevitably will have some bugs, he conceded.

7.   Electronic checks are free.

8.   Except for WealthBuilder, the basic building block of these programs is an electronic check register.

9.   It is but a short step to true electronic checks authenticated by a digital signature that can be transmitted to the payee, endorsed and deposited over the Internet.

10.   Over time, it would allow vendors to add options such as electronic cash, electronic checks, smart cards and debit cards.