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Counterfeiters Unite
Jan. 24th, 2015 09:24 amIn my recent post about PTSD, I mentioned my experience as a bank proof operator. I was re-reading that post and getting nostalgic about those days. I went to search for an image of the Lundy sorting machine I used.
The first image I found is very, very close looking to the machine I used, only with updated computer and software, but the sorting bins and mechanisms for moving the papers around looked pretty much exactly the same.
Really, over time, sorting machines haven't changed all that much other than getting a little smaller, a little IBM blue-er, and a little more modern.
Nowadays, though, you might have noticed that the time it takes to make a deposit at a teller station takes longer, because tellers now do their own scanning and proofing there at the teller station with miniturized scanners and desktop proof software. Since the whole point of proof operation is to scan the check and make sure it is coded for the right amount and the deposit ticket adjusted for any discrepancies, it does make more sense to have the teller in charge of taking and recording that deposit to process the proofing while the customer is still present. The digital age is making the dedicated proof operator positions obsolete. Sorting still occurs *somewhere*, but most documents now get digitally scanned and then properly discarded. You never get the physical check or deposit slip back anymore - only digital scans of the items.
Anyway, what really caught my attention was the article from which the above image came. It goes into grand detail about the level of details appearing in the movie Catch Me If You Can regarding checks and money fraud, including the machinery that they managed to include as props in the movie. It's a really interesting read if you want to learn quite a lot about the history of the check encoding process and money making.
The first image I found is very, very close looking to the machine I used, only with updated computer and software, but the sorting bins and mechanisms for moving the papers around looked pretty much exactly the same.
Really, over time, sorting machines haven't changed all that much other than getting a little smaller, a little IBM blue-er, and a little more modern.
Nowadays, though, you might have noticed that the time it takes to make a deposit at a teller station takes longer, because tellers now do their own scanning and proofing there at the teller station with miniturized scanners and desktop proof software. Since the whole point of proof operation is to scan the check and make sure it is coded for the right amount and the deposit ticket adjusted for any discrepancies, it does make more sense to have the teller in charge of taking and recording that deposit to process the proofing while the customer is still present. The digital age is making the dedicated proof operator positions obsolete. Sorting still occurs *somewhere*, but most documents now get digitally scanned and then properly discarded. You never get the physical check or deposit slip back anymore - only digital scans of the items.
Anyway, what really caught my attention was the article from which the above image came. It goes into grand detail about the level of details appearing in the movie Catch Me If You Can regarding checks and money fraud, including the machinery that they managed to include as props in the movie. It's a really interesting read if you want to learn quite a lot about the history of the check encoding process and money making.
