USA Today reports that eight of the top ten banks typically pay checks that arrive on the same day starting with the largest check and moving to the smallest. Large banks tend to follow the same convention with electronic transactions. Does this mean anything? Apparently, banks do this in order to maximize overdraft fee revenues. If a big check put an account over the top, the bank can charge for more bounced checks. Such revenues are a big portion of the overall fee pie these days. Not sure if we'll hear a lot of outrage over this. This time of year is rife with anger from consumers with bounced checks. You should probably have a PR plan in mind if you are forced to grapple with such issues.  

For more on this:
- Here's the USA Today article