A detailed description of the process is helpful, especially for the timing. Suppose the
payor (an individual or corporation) purchases some commodity from a merchant or producer (the
payee) on the morning of day T and uses a cheque as payment. The payee deposits the cheque in
its account at the local branch of its deposit-taking institution early on the afternoon of that day
and obtains a provisional credit in its account for the value of the cheque. The branch records the
deposit and cheque information, bundles the cheque with others and forwards them, by 6:30 pm,
to the institution’s regional data centre.