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Are cheques even used for anything except for fraud anymore? Open call: Anyone out there paying or receiving payment with cheque in the last ten years?

• gpm 4y ago
  I've paid rent using cheques to multiple different landlords within that time frame. US and Canada. I've received money from the Canadian government using cheques in that time frame too, but admittedly you could just special case the government. I've received prize money from a university run contest during that time frame using cheques (barely in the time frame, small sum of money), and I know others who have received prize from privately run chess tournaments using cheques (I think the latter just because it's a cool souvenir).
  • incone123 4y ago
    I've received refund cheques from big companies. I assume they expect some not to get cashed since they were happy to take my earlier payments online.
• swsieber 4y ago
  Yes
• furyofantares 4y ago
  I still pay landscapers, cleaning folks, and a nanny that way
  • trollied 4y ago
    But the butler prefers a bank transfer? :)
    • furyofantares 4y ago
      The butler and the chef prefer cash
• upon_drumhead 4y ago
  Yes, we pay for a yard service a few times a year to do some bigger projects and they only accept checks. Sadly, not everyone has moved digitally
• buzer 4y ago
  I received my first pay in the US via actual paycheck since I wasn't able to open US bank account in time.
• tbrownaw 4y ago
  Once a month for the water bill, because the city charges extra to pay online with a card. I think there are rules that say they have to? A year or two ago when we had a tree service come out to trim some things. Before that, when we had a fence redone. Both of those were smaller local companies.
  • Nursie 4y ago
    Here's a question, where you are, does "Direct Debit" exist? In the UK and here in Australia, when I set up a utility account I get a message saying "why not set up a direct debit?", which means that a transfer goes straight from my account to theirs at the alotted time each month, for the amount of the bill. You get your usual bill usually a week or two before the debit goes out so you can make sure it's OK well before the transfer, and the debit process is guaranteed to return the money to you in case of a dispute. You can go into your online banking app and cancel any/all direct debit authorisations whenever you like.
    • dghlsakjg 4y ago
      Yeah. In the US some companies are able to do direct debits via the ACH system. That's how Venmo works under the hood for checking accounts.
    • thewebcount 4y ago
      We have it, but I don’t trust companies not to fuck it up. I don’t want to allow the 5 or 10 companies I pay monthly fees to to each have the keys to withdraw money from my account. I mean we’ve seen what happens with tech companies like PayPal and how they screw you over. I’m not letting the local electric company have that kind of access to my account! One billing error, hack, or hidden surprise fee, and I could be wiped out.
      • TheHappyOddish 4y ago
        It's wild this is a concern for you, when this is extremely normal for billions of people.
• ericbarrett 4y ago
  In the U.S., a lot of places that take payments, including state and county government, only take credit card payments through processors that charge additional fees. I've seen as high as 5% with a $50 minimum. But if you pay with a check, no extra charge.
  • kwhitefoot 4y ago
    That's bonkers! It costs at least an order of magnitude more to process a cheque than a credit card transaction. And debit cards are even cheaper.
    • sgerenser 4y ago
      Not in the U.S. The interchange fee alone is at least 1% for a credit card, typical all-in fee to the merchant is 2-4%. Checks cost almost nothing in comparison.
      • kwhitefoot 4y ago
        That's what the processors charge, not what it costs them.
• Gh0stRAT 4y ago
  I just paid the US State Department via check for passport renewal. Also, I expect to use my checkbook later this year to buy a car. Overall, I probably average 2 checks per year. (though I do expect that to decrease to 0 in the next 5-10 years)
• pg5 4y ago
  In the last couple years, I used to use checks pretty frequently to transfer between my personal and business bank accounts with different banks. It was the easiest way to do it without fees and was reasonably quick (used mobile deposit).
• nightfly 4y ago
  I have to pay my water bill with one!
• into_infinity 4y ago
  Sure. Buying and selling stuff that's "deplatformed" by Paypal / Zelle / Venmo (nothing illegal, their lists of prohibited items are as long as they are silly). Paying roofers and other local contractors who often aren't set up to take credit cards, especially if you venture outside a major metro area. Paying for a car without financing. Refunds from my own bank.
  • gpm 4y ago
    > Paying for a car without financing A cheque cheque (not sure what the right name for it is), not a cashiers cheque?
    • thunderrabbit 4y ago
      A personal check (US American spelling)
    • into_infinity 4y ago
      Unless you look sketchy, dealerships take personal checks.
  • snotrockets 4y ago
    Local contractors (at least in the Bay Area) take Venmo or Zelle nowdays. Lawyers too.
  • deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
• toast0 4y ago
  I've never written or deposited a cheque; I don't know that I've even seen one. But checks are alive and well in the US. Contractors like them, I've written them to myself to transfer money between accounts when electronic transfer restrictions are too painful, etc. You may as well start spelling it the US way, because we'll still be using them ;)
  • 4mitkumar 4y ago
    1. I've never written or deposited a cheque; I don't know that I've even seen one. 2. I've written them to myself to transfer money between accounts when electronic transfer restrictions are too painful, etc. May be I'm confused but it seems a case of either or :)
    • braincrumbs 4y ago
      They've never written a _cheque_, they have written a _check_
  • pbhjpbhj 4y ago
    >Contractors like them, Can cheques in USA be cashed out? I mean, can a contractor take a check to any bank and exchange it for cash or do they have to be paid into an account (and money accessed 3-5 days later)? I only ask because usually contractors want to avoid cards/back transfer did they don't have to declare the income and can do tax fraud. Back in the 80s in UK you could "cash a cheque" meaning take it to a bank and get cash. Chequebooks then were printed as "crossed cheques" which couldn't be cashed [easily?]. Then by the 90s one wasn't guaranteed to get the money unless a "guarantee card" had its details copied onto the cheque -- for which an imprinting machine was used (still a valid technique about 10 years ago).
    • sgerenser 4y ago
      Checks can still be cashed in the U.S. either by going to the bank it was written on, or to a “check cashing” place that tends to operate in the poorer section of towns, near pawn shops and rent to own furniture stores. Those places charge rather outrageous fees, but they’re taking fairly large risks of being scammed relative to a bank.
• geocrasher 4y ago
  I write a check to my landlady every month and deposit it in her account. It's the most straightforward way to pay rent in this particular case.
• tempestn 4y ago
  We pay for stuff by check all the time; as a Canadian business with vendors in the US, it tends to be the most convenient and inexpensive way to make payments of significant size. Our bank in the US has a feature where it will mail a check to anyone in the US from your account, free of charge (aside from the funds being sent, obviously). Certainly seems bizarre that sending a physical piece of paper through the mail is free whereas moving some bits around is expensive, but that's how it is!
  • sgerenser 4y ago
    Most bank accounts in the U.S. have this feature, it’s called “online bill pay.” They do actually pay larger companies (utilities, mortgage, corporate landlords, etc.) via ACH transfer. But for any biller not so set up, they just mail a paper check.
• kshacker 4y ago
  10 years is long, so yes. But looking at the last 2 years - hardly written any cheques (checks). But I do receive checks. From mortgage refinancing company, from escrow, from FSA/HSA (probably could get it electronic, but I have failed twice to get this set up, and now I do not even bother), and recently some ROTH conversions since the company refused to do bank transfers any more so they make me receive and deposit checks.
• ycombobreaker 4y ago
  yes. Edit in case a simple answer is viewed as stifling discourse: I probably write around 20 checks per year. Mostly to local vendors/laborers or for youth fundraising activities. I receive checks for fundraising activities that I host. Venmo is basically the same, and getting more common.
• jjav 4y ago
  > Are cheques even used for anything except for fraud anymore? Based on the cheques spelling I guess you're not in the US. Checks are very common here, I write them every month. In theory I could pay my water bill by credit card but their payment portal is so randomly broken that I save a ton of headache by writing a check and dropping it off at their payment box. My office lease only takes checks. Various other rentals mainly only take checks or they charge a fee so I save money by giving them a check. Anything government-related is either a check or a big additional fee, so again I write them a check to avoid giving away extra money for no reason. Checks are actually super convenient and more trustworthy than most alternatives. When paying, sending a check costs me a stamp which is far less than the credit card fees most places charge, or sometimes I can drop it off for free. When receiving one, in most places it can be deposited by just taking a photo, doesn't get easier than that. Most importantly, I don't get to be another victim of the "$PAYMENT_PROCESSOR froze my account and stole my money", whether it be paypal or any of the other ones.
  • thewebcount 4y ago
    I have a rental condo and have to send monthly payments to the property management company for things like HOA dues. The property management company doesn’t know how to send out a plain text email. Every email is a Word document followed by a jpeg of the Word document. There’s literally no text in the email so I can’t copy/paste things like the call-in number for the monthly meeting. This same company strongly encourages us to use their “payment portal” to pay our HOA dues. They, of course, charge an extra few percent on every transaction. That’s annoying, but given their inability to properly operate email, I can’t imagine how insecure their payment processing is. Even if they’re using some third party system, they probably have it configured incorrectly. So yeah, it’s a check in the mail every month.
    • TheHappyOddish 4y ago
      The concept of a Home Owners Association (I had to google it) is a pretty American one too, so it seems fitting to pay it via cheque.
  • lultimouomo 4y ago
• blahedo 4y ago
  Yes, frequently. My rent, water, and electric bills are paid by checks I send through my bank online, and I have hand-written checks to pay various taxes, donations, and the bill for my eye doctor. I receive checks from a tenant to pay rent, from contract work, tax refunds, and reimbursements for stuff I pay for in some of the organisations I belong to. In fact, counting both my personal accounts and the org account I'm treasurer for, I've probably sent or received two dozen checks just in the last month.
• xmrs 4y ago
  Incredibly common with B2B payments yes.
• thewebcount 4y ago
  One problem with any other form of payment in the US is that there are no useful laws about limiting fees for different payment types, unlike in Europe. So everything paid for with credit cards is now a minimum of 3% more expensive than the listed price. Some places up it to 5% to cover their fees to payment processors like Stripe, Square, et al.
• bigpeopleareold 4y ago
  Yes, but very infrequently: - The US Treasury sends refund checks and also sent the stimulus checks to me. - I paid my rent by check when living in Manhattan 9-10 years ago. When you ain't doing it frequently enough, it's frustrating. (edit: it's more friction given I live outside the states and the bank I have now requires phone-based 2FA to login to the internet bank, but at least it is infrequent enough to not worry too much)
• ukoki 4y ago
  My council tax refund from my previous council when I moved house this year could only be sent as a cheque. I found this so strange I made an FOI request to try and work out how much additional income the council was making from uncashed chequeues.
• ricardobayes 4y ago
  For example in Spain they are the de facto payment method for real estate purchases, even though most people have not even seen a check in their lives.
• nonrandomstring 4y ago
  Cheques are a very useful and quite secure method of transaction (because all the security work and processing framework to prevent cheque fraud has been in place since the 1970s). They are slow. That's the point. They are essentially a two factor method of instruction to your bank. Legally (in Britain at least) one can use any reasonable method to give instructions to ones bank. Banks that want to "phase them out" because they are "too expensive and slow" are derelict in their function and should be hauled over the coals by trade and industry legislators.
  • guerrilla 4y ago
    I don't think you realize how easy and secure things are in Europe.
    • TillE 4y ago
      Yeah you just enter your recipient's IBAN in your 2FA banking app, and that's it. The transfer gets processed in about a business day. If you want the "check" experience, you can also fill out that information in a form and hand it to a bank teller.
      • guerrilla 4y ago
        Yeah and that's the "old" way. We can do it even faster here with local bank transfer, and then instantly with Swish. We barely have bank outlets let alone tellers here though. That's the downside. Trying to deposit cash or check is quite painful.
• maccard 4y ago
  I still get cheque payments from various government departments for rebates. My most recent one was a £3 cheque for an overpayment when renewing my driver's license by postal order... That was an arcane transaction.
• wccrawford 4y ago
  Yes, but even 20 years ago people were incredibly suspicious of checks, and that's only gotten stronger. I get checks as refunds or payouts from companies a few times a year, and it's weird every time. I gather that they legally have to pay it out and can't just credit your account, but I'd rather they do the credit. It'd be safer for everyone, and if I cancel my account they could just cut a check then.