Oh no, another cash or check only thread

[PollyannaMom]

I’m amazed at everyone saying writing cheque is a life skill...

Eh, it can't hurt to know.

I made my DS learn one summer. (I drew some practice forms, and had him fill one out to "cash" for his allowance.) I figured it was also the only way he'd practice cursive.

 

[QueenIsabella]

I remember learning how to write checks when I was in 7th grade, as part of a social studies unit. We also had to pretend we had various jobs, and had to pay all our bills with our fake paycheck amounts.

As to the OP--my oldest got a checkbook and checks when she opened her checking/debit account. She's written maybe 6 checks through the years, probably 5 of them to me. When she was growing up, I always told her she needed to get a good job and send large checks home to Mom and Dad. Once, when she was reimbursing me for books, she sent a check with a note saying, "Look! I'm sending you a large check, just like you asked!" If the OP's DD is finding herself with a need for a few checks, she should just order them from a bank and be done with it. Ordering the smallest amount should cover her for life.

 

[wgeo]

What I don't understand is willingly paying a $25 fee for wire transfers. Checks are cheaper then that, and since I'm frugal to a fault I'm always going to pick the cheapest option.

Having said that, I'd be happy to be able to get rid of my checks. The last real hold out for me is the lady that cuts my hair, and the kids schools. It seems like it would be soo much easier if the schools opened up an online payment portal. Then the teachers wouldn't have to be dealing with so much cash/checks for various things. But just again this morning my duaghter needed $35 for something and said it had to be cash or a check written out to "someone mom, but not the school I can't remember who though" lol, good thing I had cash.

 

[olafLover]

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[mjkacmom]

Where I live (NE NJ - think Sopranos), lots of contractors accept cash or checks, not credit cards (or Venmo yet). The smaller ones when the work is done, the larger ones might bill you. Landscapers, painters, electricians, plumbers... better have the funds. A couple of years ago, my dad’s storm window guy refused to leave his house until I brought down a check, even though he’s been working there for over a decade.

 

[nkereina]

Sorry if I missed it, but if she's not willing to get checks, why doesn't she just get a bank draft from her bank? Bank draft a.k.a. official check, certified check, cashier's check, etc. The kind the bank issues for you. My credit union does not charge for them, but most other banks price them like a money order so the fee is minimal. Much less than $25. I'm not sure if it varies, but I was required to get these checks for my closing costs when I bought my house.

 

[easyas123]

I'm not sure it matters who still has a need to write checks or who doesn't...obviously, as per the original posters message, her daughter DOES have the need to write checks. Seems to me the adult thing to do is order some and be done with it.
Neither of my children have purchased their first homes yet, but they are both done with schooling and have moved out (renting). they have their own bills to meet, one or two of them requiring the need to write a check. I guess they could have given me the $$$ and I could have written them for them....but at some point they've got to be adults on their own and handle their own finances, so they got some checks.

 

[ronandannette]

My paycheque and my husband’s go into our savings account. Then, we pay bills online or do an e-transfer. I have no need to ever write another cheque again in my lifetime.

It is very possible to live a cheque free life. I associate them with older people.

Guilty as charged. I guess I’d argue that while cheque-writing is legitimately on the cusp of extinction, some of us will never go 100% electronic. I do practically all of my purchasing with a debit card and all of our bill payment on-line through the bank; I was an early adopter of both those technologies back in the day. I’ve stopped short of having a pay pal account and since I only like to use credit cards for certain things, my on-line shopping is limited. I can never get my visa debit card to work on websites - not sure what I’m doing wrong and the idea of e-transferring money to people freaks me right out. I still write out cheques to mail in birthday cards.

 

[easyas123]

My 22 year old son had to write a check for the security deposit of his apartment rental.
Has to write a check for monthly rent as well. Property owners choice of payment -

 

[Skippy918]

Can't hurt, but wouldn't benefit you at all in Europe either. Nobody here would accept a check, the banks haven't given them out for at least 25 years (I vaguely remember my parents having them when I was very little)

That’s interesting. So even small contractors that do work on your house take credit cards or is it cash only? What about school donations? Those are the things we use checks for because small businesses don’t have Venmo or PayPal and want to get hit with credit card fees.

 

[olafLover]

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[tvguy]

Seems rather cut & dry. She needs to order some checks (assuming she has a checking account...).

She has a checking account. So that may be next

 

[iivye]

I always carry a checkbook even though I seldom write checks. As others have said I mostly use them for my daughter's school. I also always send checks for weddings/birthdays/graduations; I am more comfortable sending a check through the mail vs a gift card or cash.

 

[tvguy]

I know this has come up here before. I just think it’s something that is phasing out. Just like businesses that don’t accept cash (for the record, my business doesn’t accept cash or checks - cards only), not accepting checks may be here before you know it. With so many using PayPal, Venmo, Zelle etc. to make instant transfers, the businesses that don’t adapt will eventually be at a disadvantage.

We have a number of mom and pop businesses that are cash only now. They probably never took checks, and they dumped other payment methods because of the cost.

 

[tvguy]

I am surprised in 2019 that anyone even accepts cheques.

LOL. Last year DD bought a car. They only accept cash or checks for the down payment. She had her down payment all set to do an electric transfer. She had to run to the bank and get a cashiers check.

 

[soccerdad72]

I've been truly appreciating our electronic check option with our bank lately.

 

[RUDisney]

Makes you wonder does anyone or any machine even look at the stuff on the front!

There are two times items are looked at on a check.

Most, if not all banks are using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to process the checks. That means that the courtesy amount (where you write $50.00) and the legal amount (where you spell out fifty and 00/100) are read by a machine to charge you for the amount that both read within a tolerance that is dictated by the bank.

The other thing that is read is the signature on the check. It matches the signature on the check to the signature card. Some banks do this over a certain amount and others do it for all checks to help detect possible fraud. If the scribble on the check doesn't match the scribble on the signature card, it gets knocked out to an exception file for manual handling.

The bank doesn't care about the name/address on the check as long as the signature matches the account.

 

[Christine]

The number of checks I write these days is a fraction of what I used to write. But there are still more places than I care to think of that require a check.

My dogwalking company.
My lawncare company.
One or two small-practice physicians I use.
Up until recently, my county tax office (they did take cards but charged a fee).

 

[RamblingMad]

I think, the OP is getting ahead of alt payment method adoption. I started using Amazon in the 90s. However, I didn’t expect it to immediately replace a lot of my purchases. This took decades.

 

[RUDisney]

The number of checks I write these days is a fraction of what I used to write. But there are still more places than I care to think of that require a check.

My dogwalking company.
My lawncare company.
One or two small-practice physicians I use.
Up until recently, my county tax office (they did take cards but charged a fee).

My DH has a dr would didn't take credit cards. I called the office and asked if the doctor didn't know what year it was. The staff laughed and said they'd been bugging him about it for a while.

He takes credit cards now.

If enough people complain, they change.