• Are you ordering far fewer checks for your bank account these days? Does a roll of postage stamps seem to last a lot longer? Like most people, you're probably performing many more financial transactions electronically, either by choice or because companies and government agencies have increasingly made it all but mandatory.
• For example, most gyms require automatic deductions from a checking or credit card account. Utilities, mortgage lenders, insurance companies and others strongly encourage electronic payments. And many states now distribute benefits like unemployment, child support and disability assistance using prepaid cards instead of paper checks.
• Electronic transactions have caught on because:
• They're cheaper. Businesses save on the costs of printing, processing and mailing millions of paper checks and statements; and with first-class postage costing 45 cents, customers rack up savings over time. And they save millions of tons of paper.
• They're faster. Bill payments, funds transfers and direct deposits to your bank ac

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