Where do you buy your checks?

[mombrontrent]

Not every place of business accepts credit/debit cards. I don't understand why this is such a hard concept for some to grasp.

Oh I believe you, it just doesn't make sense to me why this day in age a business would not except debit or credit. Seems like a poor business move on their part.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I rarely write cheques. Now if I need to send money to someone - childcare, family member, etc it's all electronic transfer.

Cheques are not accepted in the majority of stores here anymore. Haven't been for years. I can't write a cheque at the grocery store or Walmart or Home Depot. It's not accepted.

By using my Mastercard I get 4 free WDW passes a year and sometimes Universal too. Love it!

Also do our church donation online via paypal. Even my kid gets allowance by etransfer! I rarely have cash on me.

 

[HarperLeigh]

Oh I believe you, it just doesn't make sense to me why this day in age a business would not except debit or credit. Seems like a poor business move on their part.

Because for a small business, the excessive fees are not worth it.

 

[Hikergirl]

I still write checks for things like the water/sewer bill and property taxes (not our residence which is done automatically).
The school wants most things paid by check too.
Also anytime I have any work done I pay by check.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We just had all of our landscaping replaced. Used a check to pay for that. We had concrete replaced. We used a check to pay for that. Electric bill at cabin, gas bill at cabin, birthday gifts, wedding gifts, water bill at home, product I ordered through fundraiser, car insurance, car licensing fees, tithe to church, college tuition.

I still write checks for things like the water/sewer bill and property taxes (not our residence which is done automatically).
The school wants most things paid by check too.
Also anytime I have any work done I pay by check.

I recall my first apartment in the early 90s paying my water bill by telephone banking, then by late 90s online. I don't think I've ever written a cheque for a utility bill. I'm almost 50. Funny how things are so different depending where you live, etc.

Last year our school started using this wonderful program called Permission Click where you sign permission forms and pay any fees owing online. It's awesome!

 

[MillauFr]

It just seems like such a pain for small business to deal with the people that bounce checks. That got to cost them more than 2% that Square charges to take credit cards. All they need now is a smart phone to take electronic payments. In reality using a check today is still an electronic payment. Don't they just take a picture of the check and give it back to you? Not like any bank is still processing paper checks anymore. They just scan the routing code and account numbers and process everything electronically.

 

[soccerdad72]

I think the company is called something like Checks Unlimited - one of the standard check companies that advertise in various mailings, etc. Once we started with one company, it just became easy to stick with them - go to the website and it remembers what check we left off with and order another box or two.

We probably write 5-10 checks a month, so not a ton, but a few places still don't take online payments (or charge a fee to do so).

 

[amcnj]

What though? That's what I'm curious about, I haven't needed to use a check in years and am genuinely curious what one would use one for now days. The last time I ever needed to use checks was to pay for school activities and such but all of that is done strictly electronically now, the school only excepts payments online, they will not except cash or checks.

I only write a handful a year and most are either to an individual, for things like long distance birthdays or to reimburse someone who paid for something on my behalf and I don't live near them or to a local charity (volunteer fire company for example).

The last batch I ordered through Walmart I believe, but have used places like Checks Unlimited before too. Of course no where near as often as I used to!

 

[Julylady]

I write two checks a month. My bank sends me 100 blank checks per year at no extra cost so I am set. I haven't paid for checks in years.

 

[MIGrandma]

We get our checks from Checks Unlimited, have ordered from them for several years. Their checks are less expensive than buying from the bank, and I like their designs.

We are "old school" and do not do ANY on-line banking. We do not have a debit card and don't want one. We hear too many stories of accounts being hacked and other problems with debit cards, and problems with on-line banking. We don't have that with checks. So I write checks for everything, unless we're using our credit card (yes, we do have those, ha ha!!).

I always tell this story whenever checks vs. debit cards/online banking comes up on the board, I was at Meijer one day and their computers were down and they could not accept credit cards/bank cards. People were having to leave carts full of groceries behind as they had no other way to pay. I wrote a check and went on my merry way with my groceries.

 

[Hikergirl]

I recall my first apartment in the early 90s paying my water bill by telephone banking, then by late 90s online. I don't think I've ever written a cheque for a utility bill. I'm almost 50. Funny how things are so different depending where you live, etc.

Last year our school started using this wonderful program called Permission Click where you sign permission forms and pay any fees owing online. It's awesome!

Our water/sewer is through the town so it's not a private utility company. I'm sure it has to do with money, it's cheaper to just take checks instead of having to maintain a website that allows for online payment, plus any CC fees. Not even sure if municipalities are subjected to those.
I pay every other bill automatically or by phone, it's just the stuff through the 2 towns I have property in that gets paid by check. I wish they would change to online bill pay it would be so much more convenient.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We get our checks from Checks Unlimited, have ordered from them for several years. Their checks are less expensive than buying from the bank, and I like their designs.

We are "old school" and do not do ANY on-line banking. We do not have a debit card and don't want one. We hear too many stories of accounts being hacked and other problems with debit cards, and problems with on-line banking. We don't have that with checks. So I write checks for everything, unless we're using our credit card (yes, we do have those, ha ha!!).

I always tell this story whenever checks vs. debit cards/online banking comes up on the board, I was at Meijer one day and their computers were down and they could not accept credit cards/bank cards. People were having to leave carts full of groceries behind as they had no other way to pay. I wrote a check and went on my merry way with my groceries.

Grocery stores here do not allow cheques. Haven't for years. I do recall in the 90s writing cheques for groceries.

 

[MIGrandma]

Grocery stores here do not allow cheques. Haven't for years. I do recall in the 90s writing cheques for groceries.

Thankfully all our stores here still allow checks, locally at least. I'm not sure if I could write a check out-of-town at a non-chain store. I can still write them at all Walmart stores. Maybe if you're "in the system" with a check in one, you're "in the system" in all, I don't know.

The only place I go to (and only a couple times a year) that no longer allows checks is the Fiesta hair salon. I just use credit card there instead.

 

[kdonnel]

Because for a small business, the excessive fees are not worth it.

It is a cost of doing business. Include the cost in the price and pass it onto the consumer. That is how businesses cover all other costs. They don’t absorb the cost of rent and salaries so why should they absorb the cost of accepting common forms of payment?

 

[gotomu212]

Not every place of business accepts credit/debit cards. I don't understand why this is such a hard concept for some to grasp.

Not being argumentative, but I think it's because some of us haven't seen a place that doesn't accept credit card but does accept checks. I'm one that has only written 2 checks in the last 2 years (and I know that because we don't have actual checks just the dummy ones the bank wil give you and we got 5 when we opened the account. 2 years ago). There are a handful of cash only businesses I've seen, but they are CASH ONLY.

 

[Christine]

When I used to use a lot of checks, I always went through Checks Unlimited. I noticed over the years, though, they were getting pretty pricey. Now that I carry a fairly big savings account, Bank of America provides them for free so that's good. But I rarely use them. Where I do use them is:

1. My HOA only accepts checks (4 per year I use).
2. Several tradesman doing side job work only take cash or checks. Didn't really feel like giving the tile installer $1200 in cash, so he got a check.
3. A few organizations that have charity drives will either take cash or check.
4. Lawn treatment company.
5 Granite installer I just used.

I probably write out about 15 checks a year now, if that, but I never write one if I can use a credit card to make the payment.

 

[CdnCarrie]

Thankfully all our stores here still allow checks, locally at least. I'm not sure if I could write a check out-of-town at a non-chain store. I can still write them at all Walmart stores. Maybe if you're "in the system" with a check in one, you're "in the system" in all, I don't know.

Funny that you can write them in US Walmarts and not Canadian ones. Probably something to do the difference in our banking systems.

Now I think about it husband did write a cheque to the guy who fixed our garage door opener last month! So that makes one cheque this year.

 

[dotfurio]

The only person we write a check to is our pest control. He's a small business owner and when we tried having the bank issue him checks from our account he lost them. It's just easier to leave him one here.

 

[amcnj]

It is a cost of doing business. Include the cost in the price and pass it onto the consumer. That is how businesses cover all other costs. They don’t absorb the cost of rent and salaries so why should they absorb the cost of accepting common forms of payment?

There are some small business trying to keep their costs and prices as low as possible to be able to survive in this online buying age. Around here even a lot of gas stations have a lower cash price, trying to avoid the credit card fees.

 

[Meriweather]

Designer checks
Checks Unlimited

I use checks for the yard maintenance guy, property taxes (they want a $50 fee to do it online, so I write the check), birthdays, weddings, income taxes, some charities