In France we have a different tool called "bank check" which is basically a non-bounceable check coming from the bank's books (and the bank blocks the money on

In France we have a different tool called "bank check" which is basically a non-bounceable check coming from the bank's books (and the bank blocks the money on your account of course). It's mostly useless I think because when you close on a house your notary is doing an escrow service, and I paid my house by bank transfert to my own notary (couldn't do it online, and their weird bank doesn't support receiving instant transferts).