4 ms·

Paper cheques are still super common in at least France and Germany.

• endymi0n 9y ago
  I'm German and I've seen maybe two paper cheques in my entire life.
• hocuspocus 9y ago
  In France yes, they are an exception (with the UK too maybe). But in Germany banks don't issue chequebooks anymore.
  • Amezarak 9y ago
    They don't issue checkbooks at all, or you just don't get a bunch of free ones when you sign up? Most American banks that I know of don't give you any either, anymore, just a debit card, but you can get them if you want them.
    • hocuspocus 9y ago
      Modern banks really don't. In Germany you truly have no use for cheques anymore. SEPA works both ways (wire transfers and direct debit from your account are free for you and very cheap for business accounts). While for instance in France, Orange launched their own bank recently, they're 100% mobile, yet you can request a checkbook (for free, afaik they cannot legally charge you).
      • Amezarak 9y ago
        It's free to send money to other bank accounts in the US, too, and in some cases instantaneous, in no case I know of longer than a couple days. The problem isn't that the infrastructure isn't there - it is. Older people and a few stodgy institutions rely on checks, but that's not because they have to. In Germany, what do people without bank accounts do? In the US, there's a lot of these people, but you (or their employer) can still give them a check and they can cash it at a check-cashing business (ugh) or the bank it was issued from.
        • hocuspocus 9y ago
          While I imagine it can exist among the homeless, I have never heard of anyone without a bank account in Europe. The EU even introduced a right to a basic bank account.[1] If you have an employer, I don't see how you could not have a bank account. Even retired/unemployed, you will need one to receive any kind of pension, benefits or social welfare. I know that old habits die hard, and France is a good example (cheques could be easily phased out). But governments are able to kill them off when needed. For instance many European countries are lowering legal limits regarding cash transactions, in an effort to curb all kinds of tax avoidance. [1] https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/financial-products-and-services/bank-accounts-eu/index_en.htm https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/financial-pr...
          • Amezarak 9y ago
            In the US, if you don't have a bank account, the government will just send you a debit card that they will load a balance on for your benefits/welfare. For example, here's a description of the Social Security debit card program. https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10073.pdf https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10073.pdf Most of these people do have access to a bank account - most of them are free - if they wanted one, but they choose not to get one for various reasons. I think in terms of American politics, there would be some resistance in requiring people to have a bank account.
            • hocuspocus 9y ago
              > I think in terms of American politics, there would be some resistance in requiring people to have a bank account. I think it's fair from the government (and employers) to stick to the most effective way to deliver payments, and not enable third party check-cashing business (which doesn't exist here anyway) and/or companies issuing high-fees prepaid cards. Since we are specifically talking about checks, I'm not sure you were ever able to cash one out without having your own bank account anyway. And even assuming the scenario where you want to walk in the issuing bank, what if they have zero or limited physical presence?
• ygra 9y ago
  Living in Germany and have never seen one in more than three decades.