Earth Class Mail Enables Digital Deposit of Paper Checks Received in Postal Mail

Electronically depositing paper checks saves customers time, fuel and money

Seattle, Wash. (PRWEB) July 30, 2008 -- Earth Class Mail Corp., the global leader in delivering ordinary postal mail through the Internet, announced that its customers now have the ability to deposit paper checks received in their Earth Class Mail accounts directly into their bank accounts in a single step. Depositing checks online without handling any paper mail and deposit slips saves time and energy that would have been expended in trips to the bank or the post office, and prevents the loss of earned interest from checks that can sit for days or even weeks in a traditional mailbox or PO Box before being collected and processed.

The check deposit feature will initially be available only to holders of eligible Wells Fargo business banking accounts. Earth Class Mail plans to integrate with other major banks in the near future. Used in conjunction with the Earth Class Mail online postal-mail delivery service, this new feature gives small businesses the same capabilities that larger institutions have had for years under the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act ("Check 21"), a law in effect since 2004 that enables banks to receive checks in digital form for secure and immediate deposit into customers' bank accounts.    

From the outset, our goal was to eliminate the unnecessary costs and inconvenience of dealing with postal mail in paper form

For time-strapped, on-the-go small business owners, online check deposit solves a number of practical problems. Concerns about checks getting lost in the clutter of less important mail are eliminated through Earth Class Mail's online service, which captures and presents high-res images of customers' incoming postal mail and allows them to select actions such as: opening the envelope and scanning its contents to a secure PDF file, shredding or recycling it, forward-shipping or transferring it to another person or office, or archiving the envelope and document. With the integration of the new Check Deposit feature customers will immediately be flagged when a check has been found in any envelope, and able to turn it around into a same-day deposit into their own bank account, with no delay in funds.

"From the outset, our goal was to eliminate the unnecessary costs and inconvenience of dealing with postal mail in paper form," said Ron Wiener, CEO and Postmaster General of Earth Class Mail. "The single most requested feature we've had from small businesses in the U.S. (as well as foreign-based businesses using an Earth Class Mail account to do business with U.S. customers) has been check deposit. While large corporations have always had a variety of remittance and lockbox services to choose from in outsourcing their check processing, companies under $50M in revenue typically had no economical way to outsource check deposits. We're pleased to finally make it possible for small businesses to get the same benefits from Check 21 technology that large corporations enjoy."

The new check deposit feature is expected to be most popular with online retailers, outsource accounting firms, law firms, medical offices, and a variety of other small businesses both domestic and abroad. Customers who wish to use the check deposit feature must either obtain or already have an account with a participating bank. For a list of participating banks customers may contact Earth Class Mail's customer service desk at 1-866-625-6245, send an email to info@earthclassmail.com, or visit the info page at www.earthclassmail.com/check-deposit. Only checks made out in US funds and drawn off a US bank account may be deposited at this time.

About Earth Class Mail
Earth Class Mail™ provides the only online postal-mail service designed for individuals, small businesses, large enterprises, government agencies, military, and national posts. Customers in more than 165 countries now receive their postal mail at one of 23 U.S. addresses - from New York to Los Angeles - and access it online, 24x7, at www.earthclassmail.com. This user-directed mail forwarding service offers remote access and delivery options unavailable with traditional PO boxes, private mailbox services or executive suites. Internationally, the company licenses its technology platform to mail and document outsourcing partners, as well as national posts. The company is headquartered in Seattle.

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