The Check 21 Act
is a US federal law
It allows the recipient of a paper check to create a digital version of the original, a process known as check truncation, into an electronic format called a “substitute check”, thereby eliminating the need for further handling of the physical document.
It was enacted on October 28, 2003.
went into effect on October 28, 2004.
from | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Check_21_Act