slo’s MONDAY 1/30 poll - Writing Checks

[tvguy]

I was without my debit card for a week while they were sending me a new one and I was going to write a check at Kroger and they wouldn't take it.

I use my credit card at the grocery store, but some will take a check, they run it through the cash register, and hand it back to you. Basically using the check like your debit card.

 

[CdnCarrie]

My daughter said that, until she went to buy a car and the car dealer wouldn't take a debit card for down payment. Had to be check or cash. She had to run to the Credit Union to get a Cashiers Check.
And she doesn't write many checks, but since she bought her house 3 years ago, she has discovered some of the services she needs are cash or check only. Landscaper and fencing contractor, and the company that put in her security cameras, for example.

Yes my son got a cashiers cheque for his car purchase.
I don’t think of that as writing a cheque.
My kid is in college. Doubt much Gen Z in Canada will even have cheques.
My son’s bank account says chequing but he has no cheques for it.

I pay for my lawn care on credit card online once in the spring. Cheaper if you prepay online.

I have read that the USA writes by far the most cheques. Other countries have moved away from them. Here’s one example of an article that discusses this.
https://www.marketplace.org/2017/08/07/checks-are-economic-dinosaurs-americans-wont-give/amp/

 

[Minnesota!]

I write 3 checks a year to the campground our seasonal is at, and then I write checks every other week for DH's bowling league. And once a month to the electric company for our seasonal - it's $5 or so to pay online and our bill is only $15.

I will spend the money on the stamp, instead.

Oh, and for various school fundraisers and such.

 

[ford family]

I've only written one cheque in the last seven or eight years.
It was for a rights issue on some obscure shares I held on behalf of one our daughters.
The relationship manager at the bank rang to confirm it was genuine!
Credit and debit cards plus on line bank transfers take care of everything these days.

ford family

 

[Skippy918]

The last checks I used to write regularly were for the daycare center. Now, I don’t remember the last check I wrote. Everything is autopay or Venmo or credit card.

 

[kdonnel]

Checks are dying a slow lingering death, they could use some assisted euthanasia.

Amazingly 25% of people 65 and up don't use the internet, at all.

I think that stat won't go to nearly zero until Generation Z are the ones 65+. That is really the first generation where computers have dominated for their entire life. Millennials are close to having grown up with computers but they still had a few years without having a computer in their pocket every day.

Until all the people living have grown up with computers and digital payments from day one, old payment methods like cash and checks will linger on becoming less important every day.

 

[bobbiwoz]

DH writes more checks than I do, but I write one or two every month.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

Once a month I run the rent check across the street to the landlord. And then the occasional gift for birthday or graduation for kids in the family or for a wedding gift (I live in land of cover your plate....cue the pearl clutching ).

All of my bills, utilities, car payment, insurances, etc are paid by auto pay or paid online.

 

[tvguy]

Amazingly 25% of people 65 and up don't use the internet, at all.

In 2020 when my company shifted to working from home due to the pandemic, they were amazed how many employees had no internet access at home.

 

[kdonnel]

In 2020 when my company shifted to working from home due to the pandemic, they were amazed how many employees had no internet access at home.

There are lots of people who only use their phones for internet. But they are exposed to and familiar with digital payments and the internet.

I’m way more shocked at the fact that 25% of 65 and up people don’t use the internet at all. I doubt I go more than 15 minutes at a time during waking hours without using the internet in some way.

 

[tvguy]

There are lots of people who only use their phones for internet.

We had 3 with flip phones, so work was their only internet access.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We had 3 with flip phones, so work was their only internet access.

That’s so odd. Not like the internet is new. It’s been in most households for 15-20 years if not longer.
I can see finances being an issue for lower income people to afford wireless.
My 80 year old parents use the internet.

 

[JLTraveling]

Zero in a long time, unless you count the "echeck" option I use for things like rent when paying online. Instead of my credit card number, I give them the account and routing number for my bank account to avoid a credit card fee. But I can't remember the last time I wrote a physical check. I do get them once a month, because one of my clients only issues payment that way. But I just do online deposit for those.

 

[JLTraveling]

I use my credit card at the grocery store, but some will take a check, they run it through the cash register, and hand it back to you. Basically using the check like your debit card.

We did that when I was a grocery store cashier well over a decade ago. Fortunately even then checks weren't that common, because it was a bit of an annoying process.

 

[tvguy]

That’s so odd. Not like the internet is new. It’s been in most households for 15-20 years if not longer.
I can see finances being an issue for lower income people to afford wireless.
My 80 year old parents use the internet.

Well, it was an issue with the public schools also transitioning to at home learning. In lower income areas there were pockets of students in homes with no way to get on the internet. They were pretty clever, they took several City Buses and set them up as mobile hot spots. They would park them during the school day in areas where there were a large number of students without internet access. And every student was given a laptop to use.

 

[ronandannette]

Not even the grocery store?

Nope; no way - grocery stores here do NOT accept payment by cheque.

 

[tvguy]

Nope; no way - grocery stores here do NOT accept payment by cheque.

My chain store stopped taking checks a year ago.

 

[CdnCarrie]

My chain store stopped taking checks a year ago.

Ours stopped like 15-20 years ago.

 

[Turn the Page]

I still write checks and keep a check register, which I balance weekly.

I pay most of my bills via online bill pay through my bank so they write most of the checks but our school district still does most business via check and I pay all medical bills via check as I have gotten in trouble with using our bank's bill pay feature for that in the past.

I chose the option for monthly check writing but it does vary. Some months I may not write any then do several in one month.

 

[Caseheidi]

DH pays the bills that are not on auto draft. And he uses the bank service that sends the checks out, so it is all in our financial software to have it done. We find that we write checks to the guy who does our lawn (a man from church who is special needs) and maybe when we buy something from a kid for fundraising. That is about it. I was writing a monthly check for my Mom's facility before she passed away, but really we only have the need to write a check a few times a year. We recently had to order checks, and figured it had been over 10 years since the last time we ordered.