I have developed a sample electronic check for bitcoin. This should work for printed checks, as well as for mobile devices. Maybe we could develop this as a standard for
http://bcspec.org/. Note that this scheme
requires a payment processor as intermediary, to store the checks until they are paid.
Sample check, suitable for emailing, scanning or mobile phone photograph:
http://gtf.org/garzik/bitcoin/check.pdfSample output from barcode scanner program
zbarimg:
$ zbarimg check.pdf
QR-Code:BITCOIN_CHECKv1 u:my_user n:1231-abcd-1231-defa v:100.00
Key:
"BITCOIN_CHECKV1": specification identifier
"u": user identifier at payment processor. Note: unreliable information (rely on 'n').
"n": unique check id number at payment processor.
"v": value. Note: unreliable information (rely on 'n').
Perl source code (requires
qrencode program):
http://gtf.org/garzik/bitcoin/gen-check.pl.exampleQRcode is a nice, barcode-friendly, photo-friendly method of passing information. It's very flexible.
However, the concept of electronic checks themselves have a few notable details:
* May work with merchants
* May work with mobile phones
* Like checks, a simple photograph can enable theft. A normal US check includes bank account info, from which a thief may use to steal your money. With bitcoin checks, the thief may only steal money for the amount of the check.
* At the option of the payment processor, a password may be required in order to use the check.
* Payment processor may provide option to stop payment on a check.