4 ms·

Check writing is very common and embedded in American culture. Yes there are risks, however there are more risks with scams with VENMo, PayPal, cash app, app d

Check writing is very common and embedded in American culture. Yes there are risks, however there are more risks with scams with VENMo, PayPal, cash app, app du jour. yes more people are moving to these services , but checks are still needed for many formal transactions: ex purchase a home, or fill up my kids lunch account without being charged A CONVeniance fee.

ghaff 4y ago
I'm sure a lot of it is that I'm used to them. But, for the most part, checks either written by myself or by my bank via their web site work pretty well with a few exceptions. For an individual, receiving especially a large check in exchange for something you're selling carries risk that you can't wholly mitigate. (Maybe some of the systems available to merchants are available to individuals who need something like this once in a blue moon--but I've never heard of such.) Another case is chasing down checks for people who have signed up for some activity and/or handling last minute waiting lists etc. I dealt with this sort of thing for many years and electronic transfers are a lot less hassle.
- devilbunny 4y ago
  > receiving especially a large check in exchange for something you're selling carries risk that you can't wholly mitigate. I mean, if you accompany them to their bank, and have them issue a cashier's check, you're definitely getting paid unless the entire bank is insolvent, because you're not counting on the check clearinghouse to handle the whole matter - the bank is staking its own reputation on willingness to pay.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Which adds a ton of friction to the transaction. For that matter you can require them to pay you in cash. My point is that, historically, personal checks were the default for a lot of person to person transactions in the US but they carried some risk--depending on the situation.
    - devilbunny 4y ago
      It does, but if you're selling a used car for $10k, it's well worth it. Unless we use the same bank, I'm not walking around with that much cash and triggering reporting requirements. And if we use the same bank, we'll just do a transfer within it.
      - ghaff 4y ago
        I guess I'd just ask for them to bring a bank cashier's check under those circumstances and if I felt forgery was still too risky, I would just ask for cash.
hnbad 4y ago
I was going to say that as a German writing a check to buy a home feels absurd but given all the other (legal) transactions involved (including taking out a loan) boil down to signing a lot of paper, I guess it wouldn't even really stand out much. In fact when I took out a loan I had to write out my bank account details by hand, so this was kind of the reverse experience of writing a check. It just feels extremely fussy for regular recurring expenses like rent and utilities. On the other hand, transactions on personal accounts are free with most banks (not so for business accounts but the cost is negligible) so there would be no benefit to doing it that way.

ghaff 4y ago

I'm sure a lot of it is that I'm used to them. But, for the most part, checks either written by myself or by my bank via their web site work pretty well with a few exceptions. For an individual, receiving especially a large check in exchange for something you're selling carries risk that you can't wholly mitigate. (Maybe some of the systems available to merchants are available to individuals who need something like this once in a blue moon--but I've never heard of such.) Another case is chasing down checks for people who have signed up for some activity and/or handling last minute waiting lists etc. I dealt with this sort of thing for many years and electronic transfers are a lot less hassle.

devilbunny 4y ago
> receiving especially a large check in exchange for something you're selling carries risk that you can't wholly mitigate. I mean, if you accompany them to their bank, and have them issue a cashier's check, you're definitely getting paid unless the entire bank is insolvent, because you're not counting on the check clearinghouse to handle the whole matter - the bank is staking its own reputation on willingness to pay.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Which adds a ton of friction to the transaction. For that matter you can require them to pay you in cash. My point is that, historically, personal checks were the default for a lot of person to person transactions in the US but they carried some risk--depending on the situation.
  - devilbunny 4y ago
    It does, but if you're selling a used car for $10k, it's well worth it. Unless we use the same bank, I'm not walking around with that much cash and triggering reporting requirements. And if we use the same bank, we'll just do a transfer within it.
    - ghaff 4y ago
      I guess I'd just ask for them to bring a bank cashier's check under those circumstances and if I felt forgery was still too risky, I would just ask for cash.

hnbad 4y ago

I was going to say that as a German writing a check to buy a home feels absurd but given all the other (legal) transactions involved (including taking out a loan) boil down to signing a lot of paper, I guess it wouldn't even really stand out much. In fact when I took out a loan I had to write out my bank account details by hand, so this was kind of the reverse experience of writing a check. It just feels extremely fussy for regular recurring expenses like rent and utilities. On the other hand, transactions on personal accounts are free with most banks (not so for business accounts but the cost is negligible) so there would be no benefit to doing it that way.