I actually use my debit card most of the time, however, there are times when I will write a check. I fill my check out while standing in line (except for the amount). Why do I write the occassional check you ask? Because the damn stores and/or bank is starting to charge fees when you use your damn debit card. I usually pull out the check book after I’ve seen my bank statement for the month. It pisses me off royally when I see those damn fees.
I’m surprised that most places even accept checks anymore, given that this is the payment method most prone to fraud and that there are many viable options now available.
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Debit Card Fraud. Check out the double-swipe and duplicate card frauds.
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I don’t pay any checking fees, my check printing is free, and I can also view my statements online.
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I have carbon copies so I don’t have to duplicate.
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I write birthday checks to my kids and my friends/relative’s kids so they have to go to the bank to cash them or better yet, deposit it into their savings account. Cash burns holes in their pockets, but not checks.
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Businesses do not run well on debit cards unless you want your CPA to put a slug between your eyes. I demand well documented accounting on the dispersion of funds and multiple entries(accounts) can be written with one check, not necessarily so on a debit card statement or receipt which in turn become harder to keep neatly filed.
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Check fraud is easier to prove (through handwriting) and correct with the paper trail than Credit/Debit card fraud. I’ve had experiences with both. The check fraud took less than 36 hours and I owed no extra fees. Two credit card frauds (on my wife’s account) took 1.5 and 7 months to resolve.
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I manage my money quite well without the need for ATMs and supplying the bank with stupid fees to access my money.
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Banks should only profit from my money being in their trust when they invest it properly, not with stupid fees.
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Why would I want a transaction to clear quickly when my money is earning interest?
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Churches and charities will use the whole checkwritten amount whereas debit/credit cards will have fees attached for machine use. They may get a break for being non-profit though…I would hope, but I doubt it.
The system I currently have in place is far superior to the debit card system that many of you boast about. What you claim as obsolete, I find that the debit card system falls way short of it’s potential, and just becomes a consumer-fee based moneymaking system that herds in the non-diligent masses to slowly drain money from you so you can have “limited access” to your money. I’ll change when debit cards are fraud proof and free and accepted everywhere and by anyone, which ain’t happening anytime soon since the banks are perfectly happy with the current system.
I work at a store where 90% of our transactions are for less than five dollars. It always amazes me when people write checks for such a small amount.
The thing with checks is that they are naturally a longer process than anything else. With cash and credit cards, my company assumes very little risk that the payment won’t go through. But with checks, there is a chance that the check is bad, which means that there are lengthy security procedures, including checking ID, manager approval, running it through an approval machine etc. This isn’t even mentioning the fact that nobody starts even pulling out the checkbook until everything is wrung up.
I understand that sometimes you need to use a check. But the sake of the ten other people standing in line behind you and the clerk that fields their glares, please don’t make it a regular thing.
The one thing that will piss me off is when you stand in front of my register for five minutes balancing your checkbook while everyone waits. This happens plenty often with debit card users, too. Move to the side, look at your receipt, and finish your complicated bookkeeping somewhere where you don’t make everyone wait for you to figure out where that five dollars went and why you spent eighty bucks at Toys’R’Us.
Jesus, blowero, let it go already.
By the way, your thread was different than this one, although you’re probably incapable of seeing that, due to how high up you are on that cross.
:rolleyes:
Oh, and as long as the annoyance is merely due to the checkwriter’s inability to get their shit together before they’re completely rung up, I’m with you. And I’m a compulsive check writer.
Then again, I always have my shit together at the checkout line. Gives me something to do when all my groceries are being rung up.
I suppose the logical thing to do would be to grab a tabloid and pretend to read out loud an article headlined “Supermarket Check-writer Mulched in Suspected Conveyor-Belt Murder”.
That’ll teach 'em.
A) Some stores ('round here anyway) don’t allow people to fill in areas of a check until they are at the register. Weird, I know, but I once got into it with a gas station attendent because I didn’t sign the check in front of him even though the dollar amount (numeric and written) looked exactly the same as my signature and the name of the store. Clearly, the same person (uhh, me) wrote out that whole check. He didn’t care and I’ve heard from other people in the area that they’ve had similar issues.
B) People have always compared the signature on the back of my debit card to the signature on the receipt and, on occasion, they’ll go so far as to ask for my state ID. Even at those places that insist I swipe the card myself. Swipe, attempt to place card in purse/pocket/wallet, “Excuse me, I’ll need to just take a look at your card”, etc.
c) What’s with the all the linking of [url=]words in this [url=]thread?
I would love to see an example of someone actually being prosecuted for this, when their check does in fact, clear. I’d say a significant chunk of checkwriters do this, it’s probably one of the more common reasons people write checks at times. I know I do. It’s near impossible for a check to clear the day it’s written, so if you’re expecting an autodeposit the next day (say, direct deposit on a paycheck or something similiarly dependable) it’s virtually impossible for your check to bounce. The money is constructively there.
Of course there’s a small risk involved, depending on the kind of deposit you’re expecting. But how many of us have post-dated a check? The recipient of the check can cash it whenever they please, that post-date means nothing. However, many establishments will happily take a post-dated check, depending on the circumstances. I doubt they’re doing so with the intention of depositing it that very day, therefore, I’d say it’s a relatively socially acceptable practice.
Please note I’m referring to situations such as the one belladonna described, where she’s writing a check while expecting a direct deposit to go through the next day. I’m not talking about a “well, Jimmy owes me 50 bucks, so I’ll probably have the dough by the time this thing clears…” kind of situation.
Unfortunately, people that have to rely on this sort of practice don’t do it voluntarily. It’s much more likely beyond their control. Are you suggesting belladonna’s children should not eat for a couple of days and not have diapers so she wouldn’t do it? Many times things can wait until the money is physically there, other times they can’t. I’d say most of the population is willing to take the 0.00001% chance of being criminally prosecuted for it.
This only annoys me when it’s in the express lane…why on earth did you get in the express lane if you planned on writing a cheque? Especially since the little light on the pole over the lane says explicitly " Cash, debit or charge only". I fail to see where ‘cheque’ is written as acceptable there.
Back when I was in the military, I’d stop by the commisary every few days, get a few things, and get in the 12 item or less no cheque express lane behind a bunch of retirees with 40 items writing cheques. Apparently being old recuses one from having to follow the rules, and entitles one to be a pain in everyone else’s ass. It didn’t help that the cashiers didn’t seem to know their own policy. Oh well, it only really bothered me on principle, people should be courtious and polite whenever possible.
I rest my case.
Ah, but you are assuming only one person is holding you up two minutes.
Stand in a busy line and the time adds up rather quickly!
A co-worker of my husband left her purse in the cart. When she realized her error, the purse was gone. She was able to instantly stop the debit card. For some reason or other, the bank would not immediately close her bank account. By the time the bank did close the account, there were numerous checks written. The check writing continued after the account was closed. She wasn’t responsible for the money but I recall she had a horrid nightmare of a time trying to get everything squared away. She also had to deal with genuine checks bouncing because she closed the account.
With the debit card, when the account is closed, no further transactions will take place on it (they will be declined). With checks, that isn’t always the case.
Most of the supermarkets here in the UK want to print your cheque for you (you hand them the blank cheque, they insert it into the POS printer, it prints the front, they take it out, insert it the other way, swipe your guarantee card and it prints the details on the back, then you sign it), so other than being ready to hand over the paper, there’s not much you can do to speed things up). Some places have a couple of ‘cash and cards only’ lanes (as well as the 10 items or less lanes, where this stipulation is also often in place).
But unpreparedness and general lack of attention is the real irritation; I’ll wait patiently and quietly behind someone who is held up by something difficult or beyond their control.
There’s a car park near here where you take a ‘chip coin’ on entry, then before returning to your car, you visit the payment machine, insert the chip, pay the money and the chip is reprogrammed to open the exit barrier. What nearly always seems to happen though, is that people wait in line (complainig to each other about the delay), then, only when they get to the front, start rummaging through their pockets for the chip coin, on finding it, they then rummage through their pockets/purses for the correct money. The tariff is posted clearly on the wall; it is incredibly simple and obvious to have your chip and your money (with maybe a little extra if you’re close to the hour) ready in your hand when you arrive at the front of the queue, but I’m the only person that does it this way.
When I mentioned the law requiring sufficient funds to cover a check, I mentioned civil and criminal penalties.
Most of us are familiar with the civil penalties. It’s the basis of returned check fees, revocation of payment by check privileges, the ability of banks to terminate your account for continued abuse, and the like.
However, gross abuses can and will be prosecuted criminally. There are thousands of people in prison for passing bad checks. The size of the check doesn’t matter, either, if it is a pattern of abuse or habitual behavior.
Winnie mentioned, too, technology that makes it simple to check the account to see if it has sufficient funds for the check. This technology has been around for a long time, but recently has become much cheaper. In the future, it will be more common for more checks to be verified at point-of-sale this way.
It has never cost me a dime to use my debit card. What fees are you talking about? And I have never encountered a place that did not accept it. I have seen plenty of places that don’t accept checks.
Question: how do you feel about having your address, social security number and phone number on your checks, plus having to allow the cashier to examine your driver’s license? The cashier or anyone at the store could steal your information. This seems more risky than a debit card transaction.
What?!? This has never happened to me. My purchases show up on my account immediately, compared with the 3-10 days (or more) I have encountered with checks.
Well, I’ll come right out and admit it…the real reason I use checks is that I’m ignorant, technophobic, and resistant to change. On the other hand, I’m comfortable with it and I do what I can to keep from annoying other people in line. I’ll change my ways one of these days when I’m forced to, til then, you normal people will just have to deal with it!
not only is check writing a long and arduous process for the customers in line, the cashier, and ther person fumbling around with a pen. The grocery store has a lot of paperwork to deal with. The grocery store has a lot more paperwork to deal with as you can imagine. Read More
Countries like Singapore are going to scrap paper money by 2008 I read in a recent copy of Wired.
The US is still a little behind in this, people still enjoy check writing here. I don’t understand it. Pay for a check book then have the joy of penciling everyting in.
It goes without saying the folks that are using check books are folks that may have run their credit cards dry, and have to resolve financial debts with the good old fashioned check book.
I was in central Iowa (driving through) last summer and i picked up some groceries from a bigger grocery store, and they didn’t let me pay with my mastercard, or even a debit card. Certain places haven’t really grasped the concept of debit cards , let alone credit cards.
It would seem you’re in suburbia and not central Iowa, but I thought I would share possible reasons why this primitive payment method still exists.
P.S. Is there a spell checker on this msg board?
Oh, you’re gonna be a sweet one to have around, aren’t you?
No.
what do you have in mind?
Uh, okay.
Telling you to l"et it go" equals being
Yeeeeah.
If that’s the best you can do, your pathetic attempt at baiting people is nothing short of laughable.
Yeticus, it seems like you really do have reasons (besides just being behind the times and used to them) for writing checks. However, most of them just don’t seem to make any sense to me.
Sure, it’s possible to have debit card fraud. But, you must admit, check fraud is much more likely. No one else usually even touches my debit card or credit card. Everyone sees your info on a check and even your address, phone number and social security number are taken!
OK. But, it is also common to get a debit card without paying fees and they almost all have statements online. So, there isn’t any advantage either way.
This is more convenient? You have a carbon copy of every purchase you make? I would have no idea what to do with all of that paper. If you want to track expenses, you can just look at your statement or save receipts (if you like paper). I can’t see how this is an advantage and not a disadvantage of checks.
Sure, I use checks for these reasons also. But, this isn’t a reason not to have a debit card for use on everyday purchases.
What do you mean by “multiple entries” written with one check? Why can’t you just file debit card statements? You can always request multiple statements you know. When I was getting my mortgage I had to request some and my bank provided them free of charge.
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- Check fraud is easier to prove (through handwriting) and correct with the paper trail than Credit/Debit card fraud. I’ve had experiences with both. The check fraud took less than 36 hours and I owed no extra fees. Two credit card frauds (on my wife’s account) took 1.5 and 7 months to resolve.
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I’ll take your word for this. However, this is the first point that you have which seems valid. Also, as has been pointed out, checks are much more prone to fraud in the first place. Doesn’t it make more sense to avoid the fraud than to be worried about how to fix it once it already occurs?
Everyone hates bank fees. However, banks charge fees for checking usually also. This isn’t a reason to use checks vs debits. If anything, debit cards are usually provided for free and checking accounts are usually charged for. This isn’t a reason why to use checks. It’s a reason to use a credit union vs a bank, though.
Agreed. What’s this got to do with checks vs debit cards?
What kind of interest is your checking account paying? Unless you are getting some special deal, and paying tens of thousands of dollars in checks every month, I can’t see this adding up to anything. The transaction clearing quickly is a good thing. It makes it easier to keep track of how much is in your account.
This is valid. However, like point #4, it’s a rare case. It isn’t a reason why to use checks for all expenses. I don’t think anyone is arguing that checkbooks should not be used at all. But, it just doesn’t make sense to use them for everyday expenses like groceries and such.
How are checking accounts not a consumer-fee based moneymaking system that herds in the non-diligent masses to slowly drain money from? What do you mean by “limited access”? How is your access to money any less limited with checks than with a debit card?
Since checks aren’t fraud free and aren’t accepted everywhere and by anyone, I don’t see why you are continuing to use them, either.
You seem to have lots of issues with banks in general. Many of them are valid complaints. However, I don’t see what any of it has to do with checks vs debit cards.