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OCTOBER 18, 2004
Edited by Toddi Gutner BANKING Now It Won't Be So Easy To Get The Float How often have you written a check greater than your bank balance, figuring you'll deposit money before your check clears? Try that after Oct. 28, when the grand-sounding Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, known as Check 21, goes into effect, and you may be in for a rude shock. Instead of having to ship paper checks across the country, banks will be able to transmit electronic images of checks to each other, so the time it takes an out-of-state check to clear may shrink from about three days to one, and some checks may clear the day they're written. That means check writers accustomed to a three-day or so cushion may be hit with penalties for bounced checks. (The average is $25.80.) Another change is that you may no longer get back all your canceled checks. Instead you'll receive digital images on paper, called "substitute checks," that for legal purposes are the same as the originals. Gail Hillebrand of Consumers Union advises you to monitor statements in case of snafus where the paper check and its electronic image both get paid, or in case errors creep in when a check goes to electronic form. Banks and credit unions must notify you of the changes only if you get your checks back now, or request a copy of a check. Some have begun contacting customers already, but they're not required to do so until the first statement after Oct. 28. The act does not, alas, mandate that you get access to funds from checks you deposit any faster; that's up to your bank. One likely impact of Check 21: increased use of debit cards. That will be a boon for banks, because debit cards provide fee revenue. For more information, go to www. consumersunion.org/finance/ckclear1002.htm. By Suzanne Woolley WINES Fat Bastard, Please Fish, Dragonstone, and Tortoise Creek don't sound like French or German wines. But they are. Old World producers, harking back to the success of European wines such as Blue Nun in the 1970s, are dropping foreign names for easy-to-pronounce English brands. So instead of Weingut Johannes Eser/Johannishof Rüdesheimer Berg Rottland Riesling Spätlese, you get Bend in the River. Fat Bastard, one of the first to adopt this strategy, has become a top-selling French import in the U.S. Most of these wines fall in the $10 to $20 range and are quite drinkable. That's because improved winemaking technology has resulted in better quality at lower prices. Also, makers of branded wines can blend grapes, which means when one vineyard or region has a bad year, the wine doesn't have to suffer. Old World vintners aren't the only ones adopting catchy names. California's E. & J. Gallo Winery just launched Red Bicyclette in the U.S. The line includes a merlot, syrah, and chardonnay, all from the south of France. The labels feature a beret-wearing Frenchman with baguettes in his bicycle basket. By Natalie MacLean   TIME OFF Himalayan Art Where fashionistas once shopped, you can now see political and sacred artworks from Himalayan countries. The new Rubin Museum of Art, which opened on Oct. 2, has taken over a spot once occupied by upscale retailer Barneys New York (BNNY ) in Manhattan's Chelsea district. Sacred Passage to Himalaya, photos of soaring peaks by Kenro Izu, will get you in the right mindset for viewing selected works from the 1,500-piece collection of paintings, textiles, and sculpture (rmanyc.org). By Lauren Young
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