Sandman,
You of all people should know that the bank is just trying to protect itself. Sure, it's inconvenient to you, but enough low-lifes have deposited false checks, checks drawn on insufficient funds etc to give banks good reason to hold off on giving you full credit for the deposit until the check clears.
I'd say businesses are not much better than individuals in this arena either. I once worked for a $30million/year business that wrote me a "hot check" for $6500 for a class I for them. Their students were happy, but I threatened to leave on Wednesday of the 5 day class if the check didn't clear, or cash wasn't presented.
So while you want the money now, you can thank all those folks who float checks, kite checks, or just plain commit fraud (Spelled African Cashiers Check Schemes) for the rules that seem favorable to the bank.
Many merchants already "electronically process" your check. Many of the places that have a check reader (like Wal*Mart) electronically process your check so they get their money quicker.
That is essentially what this is, the check is "converted" into an electronic form, and you can get a paper representation of this form.
TB
