Accounts Receivable Conversion (ARC) converts payments to electronic transactions that are processed through a network. ARC is also called check conversion because billing companies use ARC to read a customer's check and convert it into an electronic payment through an automated clearinghouse (ACH). This guarantees that a company will no longer need to deposit or deliver your money to the bank, because it done automatically. It also means that a company worries less about checks that won't clear and fraud. Currently, electronic conversions involve about 35 billion checks written each year. But according to NACHA, an electronic trade association, 1.25 billion consumer checks were converted to ARC payments.

ARC services are designed to make processing, centralizing, tracking and researching transactions simple and effective. Your company will also benefit from administrative returns management, comprehensive reporting and accelerated return item processing. Consumers don't notice the difference because they continue to mail in their payments. Other benefits of ARC include privacy and protection. Fewer people see personal information on a check because it is electronic and the National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA) operating rules offer protection from errors and unauthorized payments.

The payment becomes an ACH transaction by taking information from the check like the routing and account numbers. It is scanned and delivered to a bank for processing. The customer should receive a statement showing the debited amount, the name of the company and a description of what was purchased. However, there is some confusion over just exactly what a customer does see on the statement. Different banking institutions label these transactions in different ways. Some call them automated checks, while others refer to them as authorized transfers. In fact, many customers do not receive detailed statements.