4 ms·

That sounds extremely complicated. I don't see the need to emulate checks electronically, when there are good solutions today. Scandinavian business and person

by qw 17y ago

That sounds extremely complicated. I don't see the need to emulate checks electronically, when there are good solutions today. Scandinavian business and personal users have no problems with transferring money using online banks. You can even get the invoice electronically and just click a button to pay it, and the amount will be automatically transferred at the due date. I have heard rumors that checks are sometimes used in B2B, but I expect it to be in a very limited set of cases. I remember some old people who used checks in the stores when I was a kid (many, many years ago), but I doubt the stores would even know what to do with a check if they were given one. Edit: I did a search and found an article from 2006. The newspaper suggested that people should have a check book in case of problems with the electronic system (many don't carry much in cash). They interviewed the CEO of a major bank, and he wasn't even sure that the bank gave out check books at all :-)

mseebach 17y ago
Large sum transactions with low level of pre-established trust still don't have a replacement for a check. I bought a used car from a small dealership. The dealer didn't have the resources to check my credit, and I didn't trust him enough to just wire money to him ahead of time. Also, there's no way I'm going anywhere, especially not in the kind of neighbourhoods that have small used car dealerships, with enough cash to buy a car on me. So I went to my bank and got them to make a check in my name for a ridiculous fee, and brought that, and figured, "why can't I just do that online"? Another purpose would be quick settlements of bills. If I transfer the money it takes up to three working days for the amount to appear in the creditors account -- sometimes that's not practical if I need someone to ship something to me today -- this electronic check would solve that problem, because the creditor would be informed immediately by a trusted party that the money is there and on the way.

by qw 17y ago

mseebach 17y ago

Large sum transactions with low level of pre-established trust still don't have a replacement for a check. I bought a used car from a small dealership. The dealer didn't have the resources to check my credit, and I didn't trust him enough to just wire money to him ahead of time. Also, there's no way I'm going anywhere, especially not in the kind of neighbourhoods that have small used car dealerships, with enough cash to buy a car on me. So I went to my bank and got them to make a check in my name for a ridiculous fee, and brought that, and figured, "why can't I just do that online"? Another purpose would be quick settlements of bills. If I transfer the money it takes up to three working days for the amount to appear in the creditors account -- sometimes that's not practical if I need someone to ship something to me today -- this electronic check would solve that problem, because the creditor would be informed immediately by a trusted party that the money is there and on the way.