Could America's Paper Checks Be On the Way Out, Like the Penny? (cnn.com) 144
"First the penny. Next, paper checks?" asks CNN:
When the U.S. Mint stopped making pennies last month for the first time in 238 years, it drew a lot of attention. But there have been quiet moves to stop using paper checks as well. The government stopped sending out most paper checks to recipients as of the end of September, part of an effort to fully modernize federal benefits payments. And on Thursday the Federal Reserve put out a notice that suggested it is considering — but only considering — the "winding down" of checking services it now provides for banks.
The central bank's statement said that as an alternative to winding down those services, it is mulling more investment in its check processing services, but noted that would come at a higher cost. But it is also considering not making any such investments, in order to keep costs roughly unchanged. That would lead to reduced reliability of those services going forward. "Over time, check use has steadily declined, digital payment methods have grown in availability and use, and check fraud has risen," said the notice from the Fed. "Also, the Reserve Banks will need to make substantial investments in their check infrastructure to continue providing the same level of check services going forward."
A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in June found that as of last year, more than 90% of surveyed consumers said they prefer to use something other than a check for paying bills, and just 6% paid by check. That's a sharp drop from the 18% of bills paid by checks as recently as 2017. Consumers also reported they view checks as second-worst for convenience and speed of payment, ahead of only money orders. And they're ranked as the least secure form of any payment other than cash.
But even if it's true that options such as direct deposit, automatic bill paying and electronic payment systems such as Venmo, PayPal and Zelle have all reduced the need for traditional checks, paper checks are still an important part of the payment system. They make up about 5% of transactions and represent 21% of the value of all those payments, according to a statement from Michelle Bowman, the Fed's vice chair for supervision, who dissented from the Fed's Thursday statement.
The central bank's statement said that as an alternative to winding down those services, it is mulling more investment in its check processing services, but noted that would come at a higher cost. But it is also considering not making any such investments, in order to keep costs roughly unchanged. That would lead to reduced reliability of those services going forward. "Over time, check use has steadily declined, digital payment methods have grown in availability and use, and check fraud has risen," said the notice from the Fed. "Also, the Reserve Banks will need to make substantial investments in their check infrastructure to continue providing the same level of check services going forward."
A report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in June found that as of last year, more than 90% of surveyed consumers said they prefer to use something other than a check for paying bills, and just 6% paid by check. That's a sharp drop from the 18% of bills paid by checks as recently as 2017. Consumers also reported they view checks as second-worst for convenience and speed of payment, ahead of only money orders. And they're ranked as the least secure form of any payment other than cash.
But even if it's true that options such as direct deposit, automatic bill paying and electronic payment systems such as Venmo, PayPal and Zelle have all reduced the need for traditional checks, paper checks are still an important part of the payment system. They make up about 5% of transactions and represent 21% of the value of all those payments, according to a statement from Michelle Bowman, the Fed's vice chair for supervision, who dissented from the Fed's Thursday statement.
Holup (Score:2, Interesting)
I know we often make jokes about America and their cheques (especially their spelling of it), but at some point in the past decade I thought it had been relegated to just that, a joke. I hear nothing but talk about credit cards and cash lovers, I actually thought cheques disappeared. Are they still a thing? It's been legit 3 decades since I've seen a cheque book.
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Yes, for people over 80 and some businesses.
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I actually had to write a paper check recently. Took me 30 minutes to find my darn checkbook.
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It comes with nice, official (intimidating) printing. That's what I do on the rare times I need to write a check.
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If I'd known ahead of time that it was gonna take me so long to find my checkbook, I might've done that! But I do that for bills - most of them are electronic transfers, but for a couple the bank actually mails a check. It's certainly easier.
Still useful. (Score:3)
Are they still a thing? Yes, for people over 80 and some businesses.
Start paying closer attention to all of your credit/debit processing fees.
Found my local water company charging almost $4 for processing my debit card. Looked on their website and found the local office. Found they accepted payment there. Started paying by check via the mail. Stamp is a lot cheaper. Never once had an issue.
Book of 100 checks is probably ten bucks. You can also get a sheet of three checks printed at your bank, often for free.
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Your bank probably has a free bill pay service. Most banks do. If the biller is set up to accept electronic payments, the payment will go out that way, free of charge. If they're not the bank will cut a paper check and mail it out for free on your behalf.
Re: Still useful. (Score:2)
Payroll checks are still a thing in small biz (Score:2)
In my experience at my last three jobs (in the midwestern USA), small businesses that don't have enough employees in an area have to print and mail paper payroll checks instead of paying their employees through direct deposit.
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Why wouldn't they just outsource payroll to someone who can do direct deposits? I ran a small business in Canada for about 19 years and I used a company called Ceridian to handle payroll. It handled tax calculations, government remittances, etc. and it only cost me around $45 per pay for 12 employees... a real bargain.
Re:Payroll checks are still a thing in small biz (Score:4, Insightful)
What the summary left out is that 6% of the US is "unbanked" and has nowhere to direct a deposit. And "That unbanked percentage rises to 22% for those with an income below $25,000." - CNN [cnn.com] So it may not have much impact on your world, but this would seriously impact those who can least afford it.
In addition, Cashier's Checks are arguably the best/easiest way to physically transfer large amounts of money safely between individuals. They're free at many banks, and if not are still lower in transaction costs then most electronic transfer methods.
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Yes, this.
The unbanked in the US suffer many insults and damages. Eliminating paper checks will add to that, forcing them to use some service to convert cash into a form acceptable to the banking industry,
As it is, unbanked often pay to cash the checks they get for payroll etc. They convert direct deposit debit cards into cash, often with a fee. And then they enjoy the scorn of others who wait impatiently as they pay in cash, wait for the cashier to miscount change, and further complain.
SO eliminating paper
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I get the impression that a company like ADP requires that an employer employ at least some minimum number of employees in an area. Otherwise, ADP appears to fall back to printing paper checks for the employer to mail. I don't know the specifics; I just know that I got ADP paper at one job after a bunch of layoffs, and I got ADP paper when I was the only remote worker in a particular state.
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The amount of time I would have had to spend doing payroll would have cost me far more than $45 in time.
And I would never use ADP; ADP totally sucks (I know this having worked at a company that used ADP.) Ceridian was far better.
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Restaurants often use paper checks because many of the kitchen employees rely on check-cashing services instead of traditional banking.
Without the paper checks they'd have to use money orders or something. Maybe cash.
Re: Holup (Score:5, Insightful)
Credit card processing fees are high in the US, typically 2.5% . Merchants prefer to use less costly payment methods. Unfortunately, for instant payments, there is no standard for electronic payments, just a patchwork of various systems or businesses like Zelle, FedNow, Venmo PayPal. You just never know which merchant or customer has which. Whereas almost everyone has a debit or credit card. I still write a ton of checks for this reason. Not because I like them, but because of the fragmentation of electronic payment methods, and because many businesses prefer them. Obviously, not at checkout lines.
If credit card fees were lower, as they are in the EU, I think checks would likely disappear.
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The crazy thing is that a check is basically just a direct transfer between bank accounts done inconveniently. If you do the transfer by typing the information into a computer, you get charged a fee. But if you do it by writing the information on a piece of paper and then taking a photo of it, then it's free. This makes no sense, but that's how it works.
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I agree, it is crazy. And checks certainly are not instant. But laws around check fraud are pretty strict. People actually go to jail for it. With credit card fraud, the banks typically take a loss, and might not involve law enforcement for small amounts. The 2.5% processing fees more than cover their losses. So, the cost is just passed on to merchant and consumers.
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"The 2.5% processing fees more than cover their losses."
Are you implying this is the only real cost for payment processors?
MasterCard and Visa both employ an internetwork that links banks (issuers) and merchants (acquirers) so that data is exchanged and payments are processed.
Issuers maintain the data necessary to identify their account holders, keep records, pay out the transactions presented by acquirers, and arrange to be paid for the transactions they facilitate. The float between payment to acquirers a
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I was not, which makes the rest of your post a non-sequitor, but I will comment anyway.
Interchange fees are capped around 0.2-0.3% in Europe, due to regulation. Somehow, the banks have managed to provide the service at this lower cost, and still stay in business.
The reason the fees are regulated and so much lower in Europe is precisely due to lack of competition in the card processing network space.VISA and MC are a near duopoly, and absent regulation, have pricing power far in excess of their actual costs,
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As we consider the premise that ACH checking is 'free'...
Most banks charge business customers for cash deposits. That includes checks.
Which sort of challenges the concept that payment processing fees are somehow excessive, when these fees are levied even for aper.
ACH can be used entirely electronically, but there are fees. Inconvenient, because ACH has rules.
Many payment processors charge fees almost invisibly.
And business customers find that depositing cash is a unique nuisance, so they might very much lik
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ACH transfer fees [sofi.com] cost an average of about 40 cents.
Credit card processing fees [fool.com] average about 2% (plus a fixed amount, usually around 10 to 25 cents).
If you buy a car for $40,000 and pay by check, the average fee is 40 cents. If you pay by credit card, the average fee is $800.
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I think the fees are likely more relevant for higher-priced transactions. Hence the 6% of transactions, 21% of value. Eliminating checks would make that 21% subject to transaction fees of some sort that do not currently exist. 2.5% of 21% of the US economy is quite a large amount of money. I am sure the banks are drooling over those transaction fees to come when checks are removed.
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and because many businesses prefer them
I'm curious as to why businesses would prefer them? The entire concept seems rife for fraud as they are nothing more than a promise of payment backed by nothing. Credit Cards are promises of payments backed by an intermediary. Debit Cards are direct payments. Cash are direct payments. Cheques on the other hand... I can't imagine the risk beats the cost of doing business a different way, especially when that cost is usually passed on to consumers anyway.
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This can also work in behalf of the person writing the check (in court). For example, if you pay your rent by check, the landlord shows the intent to accept it when they deposit the check. Whereas if you pay with direct deposit, the landlord can claim they had no intention to accept the money.
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As mentioned in my previous post, it comes down mainly to :
a. high processing fees on credit cards. As a consumer, I would also prefer to have a lower price, and not have to deal with cash back credit cards to try to offset those fees.
b. many small businesses meet their customers in person, for example, contractors, which is the main thing I use checks for. In case they get a bad check, they can find you, file liens on your home, and enlist criminal prosecutors. Thus, a large portion of the costs is passed
Re: Holup (Score:2)
Yes, it is the price of Ameican free-dumb.
Re: Holup (Score:5, Insightful)
We still write a small number of checks a year in cases where the payee is small and doesn't do electronic payments or because they use a service which adds a fee. Our property tax and car tags have three percent plus a fixed fee. A locksmith I used this year used a service that had a $25 fee. I recently wrote one to the contractor for some home repairs.
When we still had kids in school, checks were the way to pay tuition and fees.
Give me a choice between a check and a three percent fee and I will write you a check. But sometimes a debit card has no fee and that's the choice before a check.
I pay cash for gas because it has a twenty cents a gallon discount versus a card.
The goal is saving my money. I'll pick the option with the lowest fee even with a bit of friction.
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I pay cash for gas because it has a twenty cents a gallon discount versus a card.
Might be a regional thing, but here in central Florida the gas stations offering "cash discounts" are often still priced higher than other stations that don't play those silly games.
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I'm blown away by your comment. You started by saying when the payee is small, yeah makes perfect sense (though I'm surprised you can't find services that offer far smaller fees than the $25 example). But then you mentioned ... property taxes. That is government... how THAT hasn't been resolved is mindblowing.
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I saved 4% on having my car repainted by writing a check for the bill vs. using a card. Fees are added to credit and debit card payments which businesses sometimes pass on to the customer.
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The only way for me to pay local taxes is via check. They might accept a post office money order but I never tried.
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Yes, they are still a thing. I used one last month to pay the dentist. The month before that I had to pay the property taxes. They accept cash, check, and postal money order.
Next month I'll be paying the IRS, car registration, and insurance. For the once or twice a year payments it's still better than yet another username and password, and credit cards get hacked every other year at most.
Re: Holup (Score:2)
The difficulty is that when you need them, you need them.
Money through the mail, money when online services aren't available, backups when AWS goes out, or the Internet is out in the region, etc, etc.
They provide an exact amount and an alternative when other methods fail.
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I mean, I *have* checks. Been years since I actually wrote one.
The funny thing is the 'bank' on the checks is like 3 mergers ago.
Re: Holup (Score:2)
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especially their spelling of it
Yeah, "cheque" is a weird way to spell the word, isn't it! How does "que" make sense as a "k" sound?
I'd even argue that the "ck" in the American spelling is unnecessary, the simplest, most obvious spelling would be "chek".
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At least we don't spell like fags. And I'm not talking about cigarettes.
You just fuck other guys like them?
Personal check (Score:4, Informative)
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If you pay online, the confirmation page has a transaction number you can write down if you're worried about needing to prove that you have paid. And if you pay with a credit card, that's recorded on your credit card statement. I don't think I've paid with a cheque in years and there has never been an issue. And (at least in Canada) banks don't send back cancelled personal cheques anyway. All they do is provide an image and give you 90 days to download it. If you actually want the cancelled cheque back
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It's great that you don't care, but lits of people do. There is no valid alternative to using checkes for a lot of things right now. No, "Zelle" and other third parties are not valid alternatives.
Other coutnries have figured this out a long time ago. Interback transfers from phones backed by law and consumer protections. That's where things need to be at a minimu
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OK, I live in Canada, so maybe our systems are more sane than yours.
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There are other ways to prove you paid for something.
How about a receipt? That's pretty easy.
And when you pay by credit card or electronic check, both mechanisms come with "proof of payment" mechanisms. If you want something physical, you can even print them out.
I still write about 15 checks a year... (Score:4, Interesting)
For what you ask?
For Christmas Presents to staff in my building, postman, etc.
All I need is their name. I can write it out ahead of time, put it in an envelope, write their name on the envelope and hand it to them in person. No one needs to know how much till they open the envelope. I can give out multiple ones to multiple people all privately.
But that is it. That is the only thing I do it for.
If my building were to set up a website to let me do this, I would probably stop writing checks. Give the postman cash.
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Seems like an effort for the mailman to cash it.
Why wouldn't you just put a couple of Andrew Jacksons in the envelope?
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Seems like an effort for the mailman to cash it.
Many mobile banking apps allow checks to be deposited digitally now. Just endorse it, then snap a photo of the front and back and no trip to the bank is necessary.
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Many mobile banking apps allow checks to be deposited digitally now. Just endorse it, then snap a photo of the front and back and no trip to the bank is necessary.
This sounds like the fundamental problem of the entire US banking system. They have an idea, a concept of what good could look like, and get 90% of the way through the implementation and then proceed to fuck it up.
E.g. Create a system to digitally scan a shared thing describing a transfer, but instead of using a standard QR code, keep using cheques.
Or Adopt a system that finally eliminates the use of unsecured magnetic stripes on credit cards, but then keep the completely unsecure signature for verification
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We haven't even eliminated magstrips. We still have them around for backup. An attacker can disable a chip reader by making a special card that applies epoxy to the contacts when it's inserted, which you can do with e.g. a dremel, forcing subsequent users to fall back to the strip.
Theoretical scenario, no? Going that route, the attacker can fill the whole damn card slot with epoxy, and no card, be it magnetic stripe or chip, can be inserted at all.
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Letter carriers are not supposed to accept cash or checks.
https://news.usps.com/2024/12/... [usps.com]
Gift cards for restaurants are usually a better option.
Not going to happen anytime soon (Score:3, Insightful)
For the same reason fax machines are still standard equipment for much of the government, law firms and many other places. They could use email but they don't.
It's too easy and they refuse to change.
Most checks today are rarely 'written' like the old days. My monthly bank payments are electronic, but a few don't have bank account destinations, so it gets done via the bank's paper check service.
I also prefer checks over credit cards because I don't want Visa getting any of my money.
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I also prefer checks over credit cards because I don't want Visa getting any of my money.
Technically those fees are paid by the merchants, though a recent settlement with MasterCard and VISA may change things a bit.
Visa, MasterCard reach $38 billion swipe fee settlement, draw opposition [reuters.com]
Re:Not going to happen anytime soon (Score:5, Interesting)
The vast majority of faxes being sent are inbox to inbox with a third party on both sides doing a ridiculous didgital to analog back to digital using voip over the internet then shoving the "fax" into email. Nobody wants that expense if it's not necessary. It still is.
Checks are the same thing. There are no good alternatives, and no - third party services are not what I consider alternatives. Most other countries have figured this out. That's what needs to happen first before checks go away: a true universal alternative, backed by law and regulation, without third parties and with appropriate consumper protections.
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For the same reason fax machines are still standard equipment for much of the government, law firms and many other places. They could use email but they don't.
It's too easy and they refuse to change.
Uh, too easy?
I’m picturing the lowly employee forced to drive into an office to physically retrieve a dead-tree hours-old fax off ‘ol Faxy McFaxface, who was unfortunately struck and killed by a street sweeper upon exiting the ass end of an outdated office policy that had the balls to send an untimely death notice via email.
You know, email. That newfangled dial-up era tech that now alerts you immediately upon receiving. From the comfort of your own shitter. At 5AM. And not a street sweeper
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It's too easy and they refuse to change.
It's not just "easy". Fax is as secure as the phone network we pretend is secure, so if you act on a fax which appears to come from a specific phone number then you have some level of legal protection from liability. If you use a website or email then you are only as protected from liability as your identity verification system.
My monthly bank payments are electronic, but a few don't have bank account destinations, so it gets done via the bank's paper check service.
If I need to deposit a check, I take a photo of it with my cellphone using the bank's app and it gets processed just fine. The MICR font is highly OCRable, so as long as what else is
I still write the occasional check (Score:5, Insightful)
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Indeed. My town hall has a contract with a payment processor, so if I want to pay my vehicle's excise tax online, I get charged a fee. Last time I checked years ago, the fee was $18. I continue to show up at the town hall to pay in cash.
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Same for me. Paying online is more convenient for everyone, including the utility, since they don't have to pay someone to open the envelope and pull out the check. Yet they want to charge me for making their lives easier. No way.
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Thankfully, in Texas at least, these convenience fees have all but disappeared. The state used to charge them for online vehicle registrations. Now they actually give you a small discount.
Bill pay uses checks (Score:5, Insightful)
It's going out, very slowly (Score:2)
I deal with maybe 30 checks a year, written and received. I used to deal with 600+. It took some effort to find a reasonably priced ACH payment processor, but once I did, I never looked back. That said, those 30 checks are usually checks for multiple reasons.
Two this week (Score:2)
I have to write two this week.
First time in a long time I have written any though.
I still use checks. (Score:3)
They have their uses. For instance, my property management company tried to add a small fee for paying our rent with an online check, where as prior they didn't. I decided, fine, I'll write a check out and drop it through the mail slot. I want to say it was a flat $2 fee, but on general principle I said nope. I suspect numerous people did this, as within 6 months they went back to letting us pay online for free with an online check.
My next landlord is a family friend and they (boomer) are fine with check for the rent.
It's just one more option. Instead of sending a gift card in the mail, I'll send the same as a check instead. Many banks let you do mobile deposit with their app. This way no gift card fraud issues, no stolen gift cards and also no stolen cash. Only one person can cash the check. That's a win win.
The cheque is in the mail (Score:2)
Cheques are for paying bills. Not everybody has a payment portal web page set up, especially contractors.
And should be spelled that way because there are other sorts of checks in this country, including an affirmative mark (also called a tick)
The comparison with 1 cent and 5 cent coins is invalid. Small coins have become irrelevent due to inflation, with a cheque you can add another zero before the decimal point.
Yes, I was born in a country that s[eaks English.
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What's weird is the lack of unified electronic system.
Over here for example, you can simply transfer money to someone's account using their sort code (i.e. numeric bank id) and account number. We also have a related bill paying system.
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There is a unified system, it's called Zelle. Most US banks offer instant, free Zelle transfers to any individual or business, which can be sent knowing only the recipient's cell number or email address.
Seriously? (Score:2, Informative)
Does the US still use cheques? Wow. New Zealand is way ahead, we have this system called EFTPOS which means you can buy things using a card, but no fees attached. Like a debit card, only no transaction charges.
Checks are great (Score:2)
There are still places I write out checks because I get a discount for doing it.
Still needed in many cases (Score:2)
Many small service businesses (trades like electrician, plumber, landscaper, etc.) still need to be paid by check. These are people who are often uncomfortable with technology like Venmo. Even if they do accept credit cards, they discourage it by adding service charges for that payment method.
Re: Still needed in many cases (Score:2)
We should all be uncomfortable with "technology" like Venmo.
Disgusting (Score:2)
Checks are a disgusting form of currency and should disappear from the face of the earth. That being said, the fees that are charged for replacements to checks is even more disgusting. I've worked with payment processors before, and sometimes the fees being passed on to the consumers are significantly higher than what the payment processor is charging the merchant for said payment - which should be illegal to do. There's a $70 flat fee to use my credit card to pay my rent and there is no way in hell that th
$700 Rent? (Score:2)
There's a $70 flat fee to use my credit card to pay my rent and there is no way in hell that the payment processor is charging a 10% transaction fee
Where the hell do you live that rent is only $700?
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That's only my portion. I do have two roommates.
What are these "checks" of which you speak?? (Score:2)
Wannabe Elitists. LOL! (Score:3)
The comment section is filled with wannabe elitists pretending they have no use for checks and even some claiming not to know what checks are.
You're all very amusing. However, in the real world, not just the United States, checks are still very much in use for all sorts of reasons. Furthermore, this is unlikely to change anytime soon.
Don't allow your limited vision, in your tiny and insignificant microcosm, to fool you into thinking you know better. You're the same people who aren't allowed to withdraw more cash than £/€500-1,000 per day. A daily limit on how much of your own money you are permitted to have. LOL!
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I do agree with your premise though, checks are becoming less common, and yet still essential at this moment in time in t
Old people still writing checks.... (Score:2)
just another example (Score:2)
Checks are a last vestige of a higher trust society.
I work for a European firm and they (their auditors) despise checks and can't comprehend how America can be so backward as to still use them.
Ironically we just had a customer involved in seven-digit fraud payments ...which couldn't have happened without electronic payments. Had they been "allowed" to pay us in checks like they used to, it simply couldn't have happened.
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Checks still exist because of EFT fees (Score:2)
Checks are inconvenient and hideously insecure, but they remain the one way for an American to (sort of) safely send money to a person or company without both parties physically present that doesn't necessarily result in third-party fees for either party. That's the problem banks have to solve to get rid of paper checks.
In my town, you can pay your taxes in cash (at the town hall, during limited hours, in person), by mailing in a check for the exact amount, or via credit card—which results in a 2.5% s
An idea whose time has passed (Score:2)
Checks were great when everything moved slowly, and a 7-day wait wasn't a problem for receipt of funds. Today, that's a long time, and fraud is rampant. I've personally had money stolen when someone intercepted a check made out to me, and cashed it at a convenience store. A relative of mine had a check intercepted in the mail, somebody altered the amount from $450 to $4,500, and cashed it. The bank (Chase) cleared the check even though my relative put a stop payment on the check, because the amount didn't m
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and a 7-day wait wasn't a problem for receipt of funds
Many businesses have a check endorsement printer that also reads the MICR code [wikipedia.org] and performs an electronic transfer on the spot. I can't even get home and log on to my bank account before the withdrawl is made.
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I wouldn't know, I haven't written a check in years. Clearly, these businesses are doing this electronically. Yet another indication that it's time to move on.
Don't close the door on alternatives! (Score:2)
Personally, I find electronic payments to be a nightmare.
There is always an extensive, ever changing technological barrier there. It seems like every time I need to do something like that, there is some annoying compatibility problem - site accessibility, browser versions, OS versions, hardware compatibility, screen size, ad blockers, VPN, ISP network, e-mail blocking, and more frequently these days places require smart/cell phones even if you have a powerful computer sitting in front of you.
Try to deal wi
Only if credit card usage is free (Score:2)
I rarely use a paper check and only if the recipient charges me for using a credit card. They don't even just pass the cost of using the card onto the consumer. They pad the damn bill which is even more obnoxious.
I like the EU method (Score:2)
In France, we paid all our bills, contractors, friends, everything with a bank account iban number.
It worked great. No credit card fees, no venmo, no cash and a paper record.
The US is behind.
Re:Don't be that boomer (Score:5, Insightful)
Almost as bad as the people who try to get their iPhone payment app running.
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Almost as bad as the people who try to get their iPhone payment app running.
Or you could blame the store. Basically, every modern smartphone is capable of being your own personal self-checkout terminal, but only some stores have actually bothered to implement such functionality into their apps. So, it's the store that's making you go through a convoluted checkout process where you're stuck behind someone futzing around to get their payment method to work.
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Basically, every modern smartphone is capable of being your own personal self-checkout terminal, but only some stores have actually bothered to implement such functionality into their apps.
And some of them do implement it, and put it behind a paywall. Which is why, on many an occasion, I'll load up a cart at Walmart, then get to the checkout area and find that all the self-checkouts are closed and there's one lane operating with a 20 minute line, and just leave my cart there and walk out.
I've read somewhere that doing this is "the moral equivalent of theft," since apparently they have to throw away any perishables found in abandoned carts. Well, their failure to operate adequate checkout ca
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Buying groceries with a check?! Look at this rich guy. The rest of us have to fill out a credit application and take out a mortgage when we want to buy a Christmas roast.
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Most grocery stores in the US will happily print that check for your signature, Yup, that's not at all new.
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I'm a Boomer, and I second that. I like being that guy behind the dawdling check-writing woman who checks out with a quick tap of my iPhone.
Re: Don't be that boomer (Score:3)
Getting rid of checks would require me sending my bank account number and routing number to random companies that are just sending me a rebate or something. I learned that this is incredibly dangerous in the US, because we have a stupid system that allows withdraw and deposit with the number, but in other countries, sucking money out of an account like that isnt possible, without account holder consent. Which seems a bit like, wtf, why do we have such a backwards system????
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And the funny thing is, there are people who will write a check vs. using online bill-pay for "security and privacy" reasons. Give my account and routing number to any Tom Dick and Harry to withdraw money from my account willy-nilly?! Never! Unless I give it to them by having my bank print it on a piece of paper in a funny font and then mail them that piece of paper.
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Never had a cheque book since the 90s. I paid a bank cheque several years ago on a home deposit because my BPAY-linked account blocked payments over a grand.
When the final settlement came a month later, I was back at the same bank branch for one of the few transactions I've done over the counter in the last 20 years.
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I'm in the United States. I still write a few paper checks a year, mostly to friends and neighbors. It makes it easy to pay my neighbor for some yardwork they do for me.
I think the killer app that would move me away from paper checks would be a "universal" (at least in the US, but for the entire US) app that would let me authorize transfers funds to other people and businesses. Something maybe like CashApp, but that every person and every business and utility uses. Right now, it feels like every person
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If they have a bank account with any major US bank, and even most smaller ones, there is always Zelle, which only requires the correct phone number or email address. They'll get a message to setup Zelle to receive the money if they don't already have it setup. Otherwise it's basically only CashApp or Venmo. If anyone is using any other option, in the US, then they're either dumb or have some sort of vested interest (equally dumb).
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$50 would be bargain. Some outfit called "Paychex" (sic) charged my wife $100 for writing a fucking check.