# So Now we don't even write out checks anymore? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 28, 2018, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711 "2018-02-28T00:29:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/101 "2018-03-02T19:16:13Z")
> [@Edward\_The\_Head](#): > > No, J G Wentworth. They had been such a pain to work with. They bought the first company I was with, and in three years they said that my escrow needed to go up by $100+ a month. Over that time my taxes and insurance had only gone up by 3-400. They paid my taxes and my insurance in December, in February they had $1400 in escrow, my total for both isn’t even $4000 a year. Ugh sounds awful. Greentree bought the company that held our second mortgage. They were so incompetent (or evil?) - they lost our proof of flood insurance three times, randomly took forever to process payments, and it took us almost 90 days and the threat of siccing our lawyer on them to get them to cough up a 30-day pay off figure and the address to send the check. As much as I loathe Bank of America, who bought our primary mortgage, they have yet to screw anything up. ETA - and they send us escrow overage checks in a timely fashion. I think we get them once or twice a year? Maybe quarterly after they pay our quarterly property tax bill? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/102 "2018-03-03T06:03:38Z")
> [@Cugel](#): > > I’ve used a cheque in the last 20 years, as a way of sending money through the post to an organisation that hadn’t quite got with the times. But writing a cheque to someone who’s standing right in front of you would have never occurred to me. My plumber, who was standing in front of me, wanted me to pay him by check after he fixed my sink. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/103 "2018-03-03T08:31:28Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > My plumber, who was standing in front of me, wanted me to pay him by check after he fixed my sink. Really? My plumber just emails me a bill a few days later. They used to use snail mail, but changed a few years ago. When I had my hot water heater replaced a couple of years ago, Home Depot’s contractor just took a credit card number over the phone. ---
**Author:** ![Bibliothecarius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@Bibliothecarius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bibliothecarius)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/104 "2018-03-03T09:49:25Z")
I work in the back office of a bank. As many of our clients are realtors, law firms and other professional types of businesses, many of them have checkbooks linked to their trust accounts so we do still order checkbooks for them (and another team receives the physical checks and banks them). We just had a new guy enter our team, fresh out of college and likely in his early twenties. After a few weeks, he confessed that he had no idea what we were talking about when he learned how to order checkbooks in the bank’s systems as he had never seen a check before and didn’t know what a checkbook was. Way to make the rest of us feel old! He studied finance in college too so evidently checks are no longer discussed, or in high school math/business classes for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/105 "2018-03-03T12:34:24Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Yep, a sweet $80 and yes, it was indeed a horrible night…And apparently the local banks were totally peed-off that hordes of people were lining up to cash their goodies…caught them completely offguard as they just didn’t have the tellers to cope. 😃 Why were people standing on line instead of auto depositing in some way? Also, none of you people write checks for wedding gifts? That’s the most common use of my checkbook. My ex- writes 2 checks a month for my child support amount, since the amount varies based on expenses and then there is a foreign currency conversion. I don’t have the time to do the math and change the payment amount each time, so I just let her do it and write herself the check from my account. Checks are certainly a convenience for me. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/106 "2018-03-03T14:07:59Z")
The only check I write is for the rent, and that’s only because they charge a fee to do it online, for some reason I’ve never figured out. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/107 "2018-03-03T14:32:44Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > The only check I write is for the rent, and that’s only because they charge a fee to do it online, for some reason I’ve never figured out. Online payments are probably outsourced, in which case _they’re_ charged a fee which is passed on to you. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/108 "2018-03-03T14:55:10Z")
> [@Bibliothecarius](#): > > …he had never seen a check before and didn’t know what a checkbook was. Way to make the rest of us feel old! He studied finance in college too so evidently checks are no longer discussed, or in high school math/business classes for that matter. The other day an older woman tried paying for her items at the convenience store via check. The high school girl behind the counter had absolutely no idea what the woman was trying to do. I was behind her, so I stepped in and explained what a check is. The girl replied, “I don’t even think we take them. Everybody pays either cash or card.” The woman ended up digging through her purse for the actual money. The girl kept apologizing. After the woman left the girl asked me if I knew what a handwritten check was. I deliberately tried not to look shocked because I honestly don’t think kids nowadays are exposed to “old fashioned stuff” like that. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/109 "2018-03-03T15:17:40Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > The only check I write is for the rent, and that’s only because they charge a fee to do it online, for some reason I’ve never figured out. When I use my bank’s bill payment system, they decide how to send it. If it’s a payment to a utility, or something else big, it’s processed as an ACH, because that’s much less expensive for them. However, if I’m paying a local contractor that they’ve never dealt with before, or my BiL, they process a paper check. I’d pay the rent thru your bank’s bill pay & let them sort it out. At the very least, it saves you a stamp. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/110 "2018-03-03T16:16:28Z")
That’s how bill pay works for me. The credit card payment to JP Morgan Chase is an electronic funds transfer, while they send a paper check to my building manager. Except he sometimes claimed not to have received it, so I’d have to write a paper check. So now I have them issue a paper check but mail it to me so I can hand-deliver it. Once, I needed to send money to my brother, so I added him as a creditor in the bill pay system. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/111 "2018-03-03T16:53:33Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Online payments are probably outsourced, in which case _they’re_ charged a fee which is passed on to you. Yes, AFAIK there aren’t standalone services to receive rent electronically which don’t charge _somebody_ (what would the business model be?). And the avoided cost of doing it electronically is probably higher for tenant (buy checks, envelopes and stamps, write, stuff and mail) than landlord (take envelope from PO box that has to be checked anyway for bills, city notices etc., open, endorse and put in ATM on next block). So there’s no strong reason for landlord to pay. Apps like Venmo and Zelle are free for (non credit card) transactions so far. But see linked article theorizing Venmo’s eventual business model which involves situations where they can charge fees on debit transactions, as to merchants. With tenant/landlord you don’t have the same factor with stores of encouraging people to spend more via payment conveniences the merchant is therefore willing to pay for. And there’s just inertia. We could contact our tenants who pay by check (rather than money order, those presumably don’t have bank accounts) and/or are functional in the same languages we are, and suggest ‘peer to peer’, free pmt apps. But that’s a subset, we’d still be receiving paper check/MO’s. > **[How in the World Does Venmo Make Money?](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/07/venmo-makes-money-banks/533946/)** > > It doesn’t directly bring in much revenue now. But thanks to its silly-seeming social feed, that might soon change.  ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/112 "2018-03-03T17:23:21Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > Really? My plumber just emails me a bill a few days later. They used to use snail mail, but changed a few years ago. > > When I had my hot water heater replaced a couple of years ago, Home Depot’s contractor just took a credit card number over the phone. My plumber is a tiny family operation. They do a great job but they are not up to date technologically. ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/113 "2018-03-03T20:22:57Z")
We haven’t deposited a check in years. Our bank has an app - take a picture of both sides, push a few buttons, and whoosh - it’s deposited. The only reason I go the the bank these days is to use the ATM if I need actual cash. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/114 "2018-03-03T21:21:42Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Why were people standing on line instead of auto depositing in some way? Because as I mentioned, cheques are a rarity in Australia nowadays, and many people may not have known you could deposit through an ATM. > [@](#): > > Also, none of you people write checks for wedding gifts? That’s the most common use of my checkbook. Because as I mentioned, cheques are a rarity in Australia nowadays. Most newly-weds are more than happy to receive cold, hard cash in an envelope. Honestly, I would wager that most people under 50yrs of age have never had a personal cheque account. And with the advent of online banking, ALL of my regular bills, and 99% of my ‘other’ expenses are paid through bPay or similar. I pay my lawnmower man in cash. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/115 "2018-03-03T22:54:25Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Online payments are probably outsourced, in which case _they’re_ charged a fee which is passed on to you. > [@Corry\_El](#): > > Yes, AFAIK there aren’t standalone services to receive rent electronically which don’t charge _somebody_ (what would the business model be?). And the avoided cost of doing it electronically is probably higher for tenant (buy checks, envelopes and stamps, write, stuff and mail) than landlord (take envelope from PO box that has to be checked anyway for bills, city notices etc., open, endorse and put in ATM on next block). So there’s no strong reason for landlord to pay. The management company that I pay my rent to is set up for both ACH payments and debit card payments. There’s a charge for payment by debit card, but ACH payments are free of any extra charges. It’s a huge convenience for me. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/116 "2018-03-04T00:09:39Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Also, none of you people write checks for wedding gifts? That’s the most common use of my checkbook. It would never occur to me to give money for a wedding gift, but yes, theoretically I would use a check and not cash. I use checks for rent, tradespeople as mentioned above, my car because they wouldn’t take a credit card and my limit wasn’t that high, payments to people at work for what their kids are selling. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/117 "2018-03-04T00:28:20Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Because as I mentioned, cheques are a rarity in Australia nowadays, and many people may not have known you could deposit through an ATM. > > Because as I mentioned, cheques are a rarity in Australia nowadays. Most newly-weds are more than happy to receive cold, hard cash in an envelope. > > Honestly, I would wager that most people under 50yrs of age have never had a personal cheque account. And with the advent of online banking, ALL of my regular bills, and 99% of my ‘other’ expenses are paid through bPay or similar. I pay my lawnmower man in cash. In the US they are still checking accounts, even if checks are never actually used. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/118 "2018-03-04T00:59:37Z")
About 25 years ago, when writing checks was still the norm, I had custom checks with Edvard Munch’s [The Scream](https://store.metmuseum.org/content/ebiz/themetstore/invt/80016933/80016933_01_L.jpg)printed on them. If you gotta pay your bills you might as well send a message along with the money, right? When paying for something in a store I’d often get a clerk who got a kick out of the image and smile and give me a thumbs up or a “cool”. Unfortunately, more often than not I’d get a clerk who looked at the check and said, “Oh, neat! [Home Alone](https://i0.wp.com/www.chris-callaghan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/macaulay-culkin_holding-face.jpg?fit=352%2C401) checks”. I do all my transactions by credit card or online now. ---
**Author:** ![deaftom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@deaftom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deaftom)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/119 "2018-03-04T01:10:00Z")
As executor for my late father’s estate, I routinely electronically deposited incoming checks into the estate’s bank account through via a smartphone app. However, my bank has limits on the amount that an electronically deposited check can be, and has no physical branches within a 5 hour’s drive, so for a few large checks I actually had to endorse them and use registered mail to physically send them to the bank’s headquarters in another state. Significant estate expenditures were also paid by check in order to establish a “paper” trail to satisfy the county probate court that the estate funds were being properly administered, though in fact the only remaining actual paper was the checkbook register, proof of check writing requiring calling up the bank’s scanned image of the check online. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711/120 "2018-03-04T04:11:56Z")
It’s funny that this thread has been active at this time. I’ve written checks the following days: 2018: March 3, Feb 28, Feb 23, Feb 15 2017: Dec 2, June 15, Apr 8, Jan 7 Yes, that’s as many in a span of around two weeks as I wrote all last year. I wrote 2 in 2016, though I also voided one and someone else wrote most of a check and I just signed it, so 4 got used that year too. In 2015 I wrote a lot more though. I’ll also point out that in my capacity as an accountant, I see a lot of people who run businesses still writing a _lot_ of checks. It’s a de facto standard that you get invoices from vendors in the mail and pay them by check through mail. This allows you to not have to pay for things until possibly after you’ve used them to create revenue (although much of that revenue might be received the same delayed way), and businesses are fine with not getting paid right away when working with clients that they want to have back again and again and will give more time to pay in order to get more business. It’s a little harder in retail when there’s a much higher volume of customers and smaller transactions, although it worked for old country stores where families ran a tab because the owner knew who everyone in town was. With electronic transactions, the money is out of your account immediately - and not in the target’s account until the transaction settles, which may be a couple days later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-now-we-dont-even-write-out-checks-anymore/809711.md?page=7)