Such is the dilemma facing consumers under the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act - dubbed Check 21 - which in October ushered in a new era of superfast check-processing times. While the measure over time enables banks to reduce the time it takes for checks to clear, it does not require them to make funds from deposited checks available more rapidly to consumers.

A Democratic congresswoman from New York finds that unfair.

"Banks are increasingly implementing the faster check-clearing procedures, while their customers are increasingly paying unnecessary overdraft penalties," U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney said this week in introducing the Consumer Checking Account Fairness Act.

A number of consumer advocacy groups believe Check 21 tilts too far in favor of banks. They like what they see in Maloney's bill.

"Since banks are benefiting from quicker check processing under Check 21, so should consumers," said Gail Hillebrand, senior attorney for Consumers Union.

Banks now may delay making funds available to consumers up to two days for local checks, five days for checks written by out-of-state organizations and 11 days for checks valued at more than $5,000. Under Maloney's bill, banks would have to make funds available to consumers who deposit a check of up to $7,500 within two business days. The measure also includes several other changes designed to reduce instances in which checks bounce.

So far it is unclear whether banks will lobby aggressively against the measure. Some banking groups have spoken publicly against Maloney's measure. Others have expressed general support for re-examining Check 21.

"We welcome the discussion of any new law that helps consumers," said Howard Headlee of the Utah Bankers Association. "As of right now, most banks make funds available on the day of the deposit or the day after. I'm confident the banks would welcome any new regulations that would be beneficial for consumers."

Banks staunchly supported the original Check 21 legislation because, over time, it will do away with one of the most popular consumer cash-management strategies ever - the float. Writing a check and not depositing sufficient funds until a day or two later always has been against the rules, but many people did it anyway - and got away with it.

Unlike electronic transactions that begin processing almost immediately, checks have taken up to three days or more to clear, which made it easy to write a check without immediately depositing the money to back it up. As a result, consumers have been able to play the "float" safely as a way to stretch their finances until the next paycheck.

The delay in check processing stems from the fact checks always have been moved physically from one financial institution to another. Those submitted to an individual or business were deposited in a bank, which forwarded them to a processing center, which then sent the check back to the check writer's bank. The length of the float depended on the geographic distance between these check-processing entities.

With Check 21, banks may process payments using digital images of the checks instead of the checks themselves, accelerating the time it takes for a check to clear. Under the new law, the images are legally equivalent to the original check.

Not all banks adopted faster check processing systems after Check 21 took effect. But many have, for at least a portion of the checks they process, and most banks anticipate handling a greater portion of their checks in this manner in coming years.

While the banking industry was solidly behind Check 21, groups, such as Consumers Union, estimate it could cause U.S. consumers to bounce 7 million more checks this year than last.

Bankers say such dire predictions are overstated and add consumers should not have relied on the float anyway. They maintain consumers should realize some banks will wait months or years to invest in the technology necessary to make Check 21 work. Other banks will implement the measure immediately, but on a limited scale.

Therein lies the problem with amending Check 21, said Royce Brown, chief operating officer of NetDeposit Inc. of Salt Lake City, a subsidiary of Zions Bancorp.

Because banks are making investments in technology to process checks faster at different places and some have yet to adopt Check 21-related systems at all, it may not be fair to expect banks to immediately shorten the time in which they are required to make funds available to their customers.

lesley@sltrib.com

Consumers can take a number of steps to prevent bounced checks:

* Have funds in your checking account before writing a check. Checks that used to take up to five days to clear may be debited from a consumer's account in just hours under Check 21. The time it takes for banks to make funds from deposits available to consumers remains the same.

* Rely less on the stop-payment option. Checks will be processed and paid so much more quickly that consumers will have little time to stop payment.

* Check bank statements carefully. Some experts fear the new system may lead to more errors, such as when a check is debited from an account twice.

* Check into overdraft protection. Bounced-check fees can be high, so it pays to prepare for the event a check is written with insufficient funds.