The effects of the September 11th terrorism on commerce in America are being felt in many ways across our country. The moving of cash and checks is curtailed; the distribution of paychecks and pay stubs is thwarted. The fear of opening the bills in the mail is not just because of the dread of having to pay them. These are effects which many government agencies and businesses could never have imagined occurring, much less develop a contingency plan to overcome.

Reporting in an American Banker article on October 11th by Andrew Roth, Patrick Barron, first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta responded to the FAA's grounding of all flights by saying; "clearly this was unimaginable-the shutting down of the entire domestic airline industry." The article cited that three-quarters of the 16 billion checks the Fed processes are paper and carried on planes to regional Fed banks. To read the full article click here