Who Is Still Writing Checks

[disneysteve]

With my system, it always goes back to a $100 balance.

If it's not at $100, I can look to see what's up. It helps a lot that there aren't many transactions. Maybe one a month.

Looking at it now. One check in August. One in July. Two checks in June.

Well with only one or two transactions per month there’s not much of anything to balance but I think that’s an anomaly. As I said we have 30-ish transactions monthly so there’s a lot more to keep track of.

 

[W2R]

I still write checks, despite my nearly illegible "senior citizen (shaky) cursive". I write as few as possible, maybe 3-4 each year.

If I pay my property tax by check, they don't add on the fee for using a credit card.

If/when I need repairs to be done at my house by a tradesman (plumber, electrician, handyman, etc), I write a check because I don't think they take credit cards while out working on a house? At least if they do, I didn't know about it.

So, this past year I wrote a check for my new roof, another for my new water heater, and a third for the HVAC annual service contract. Stuff like that.

I pay my lawn guy in cash. He charges $35/mow (including edging), so I put that in a "secret place" on my patio that he knows about, and he picks it up when he's done.

 

[Alex The Great]

If I pay my property tax by check, they don't add on the fee for using a credit card.

Credit card with cash back higher than the fee is still better than the check. But our county accept electronic check only for many years, which is basically like ACH: no writing on a paper.

If/when I need repairs to be done at my house by a tradesman (plumber, electrician, handyman, etc), I write a check because I don't think they take credit cards while out working on a house? At least if they do, I didn't know about it.
So, this past year I wrote a check for my new roof, another for my new water heater, and a third for the HVAC annual service contract. Stuff like that.

Yes this is the only reason why I still need a check book. But many contractors have started to accept electronic payments and even virtual wallet payments like Apple Cash.

 

[jazz4cash]

Maybe we're all doing the same thing. Balancing is when I check every transaction. I guess others are doing it throughout the month while I'm sitting down once a month and doing it all at once.

I get an email when my statement is available with a link to login to my account. I open the the .PDF and review every transaction. Last month I had 20 debits which were all billpay and ATM activity. All done on my phone usually. I only had 2 unique transactions, the rest were monthly payments. Also I get email notifications for most transactions. I can quickly verify all transactions are legit but I don’t check the bank’s math.

 

[jazz4cash]

Do you ever encounter an issue when you need to mail in a form of some kind with your payment because that way they'll get the form and check separately? I'd be concerned that they wouldn't match them up correctly and think I just hadn't paid.

I have been using my bank’s billpay for ~20 yrs and maybe had a problem once. The bank was very helpful to resolve and even pay late fees if they were responsible for the error. If a biller is not in their system they will generate a check and mail it. So far they have never arrived late. The payment info I provide has all the same info as the biller’s paperwork. I think if you sent the form separately it would more likely cause a problem.

 

[audreyh1]

I would love to not write any checks but some places still require them. And sending a check through online banking isn't really an option because the payment needs to accompany the paperwork being returned. I guess I could write a note on the paperwork saying the payment will arrive separately, but then I'm depending on them to match up the check with the form when it arrives. And since I have to mail in the physical form anyway, I'm not really saving anything by not writing a check at the same time.

Our bank bill pay indicates the account # as well as the payer. The payee credits the account. This has simply never been a problem.

 

[tulak]

Do you ever encounter an issue when you need to mail in a form of some kind with your payment because that way they'll get the form and check separately? I'd be concerned that they wouldn't match them up correctly and think I just hadn't paid.

I can add a memo to the check, specifying an account number or something else that can identify the payment. I’ve never run into the case where I’d need to send in a form, but as long as there was something to tie them together it wouldn’t be an issue?

 

[jim584672]

The last hold outs now have ACH pay options, so snail mail payments are no more!

 

[Alan]

I don’t balance my checking account but I do monitor the account and check every transaction.

This is what I do as well, and save all monthly statements as a pdf. (No paper statements ever)

 

[Alan]

I pay my lawn guy in cash. He charges $35/mow (including edging), so I put that in a "secret place" on my patio that he knows about, and he picks it up when he's done.

Everyone here can have payments direct into their bank account with no extra charge and that is the way it works, including our window cleaner, house cleaner and milkman. The transactions happen immediately and appear in the other person’s bank account in seconds.

 

[W2R]

Everyone here can have payments direct into their bank account with no extra charge and that is the way it works, including our window cleaner, house cleaner and milkman. The transactions happen immediately and appear in the other person’s bank account in seconds.

That's terrific!

 

[disneysteve]

Everyone here can have payments direct into their bank account with no extra charge and that is the way it works, including our window cleaner, house cleaner and milkman. The transactions happen immediately and appear in the other person’s bank account in seconds.

That would be Zelle here in the US. It’s direct bank to bank transfers that are instant. I use it with my mom and daughter and a few other people. But we also have some friends who refuse to do it.

 

[Alan]

That would be Zelle here in the US. It’s direct bank to bank transfers that are instant. I use it with my mom and daughter and a few other people. But we also have some friends who refuse to do it.

Sounds good although it looks like both parties have to be enrolled in Zelle for it to work best.

https://www.zellepay.com/how-it-works

Enter the amount you want to send. If your recipient is already enrolled with Zelle®, the money will go directly into their bank account, typically in minutes. If they aren’t enrolled yet, they will get a notification explaining how to receive the money simply and quickly.

 

[Gumby]

From what I have read, Zelle is a tool for scammers and there is often no recourse when you lose money. I'll forego the convenience, thanks.

 

[audreyh1]

Sounds good although it looks like both parties have to be enrolled in Zelle for it to work best.

https://www.zellepay.com/how-it-works

Zelle is definitely not an equivalent to your UK setup.

 

[ncbill]

Not quite as easy as you think... I am sure there are a lot of other entries into the checking account except the few checks...


I look at my DDs account and see a LOT of venmos, debits etc.. plus bill pay...


I do 'balance' when I pay the bills twice a month.... look to make sure nothing hit the account I was not expecting...

Nope.

Everything possible is put on a cash-back credit card, so that's one electronic payment monthly.

Cable/phone/internet "triple-play", groceries, insurance, etc.

Other monthly bill pay...normally just electricity and natural gas.

And I define "balancing a checkbook" as reconciling manually via the paper registers included with the checks...haven't bothered with that in years.

 

[Alan]

Zelle is definitely not an equivalent to your UK setup.

The UK setup was mandated years ago by EU law I think and it has definitely improved and become lightning fast. When you are paying someone for the first time the sending bank will check the recipient’s name on the account against the routing number and account number and let you know if it is a perfect match, a partial match or not a match all. If it is not a perfect match the advice is to contact the person you are trying to pay, send them a small amount like 50p and get them to confirm they have received it. After the first payment they are saved as a payee so no need to enter bank details again for future money transfers.

 

[SoaringEagle1]

I refuse to pay the DMV their fee for paying online and so the DMV is my last hold out for a written check. I get some satisfaction that the local government has to pay someone to open my envelope and manually process my check.

 

[disneysteve]

From what I have read, Zelle is a tool for scammers and there is often no recourse when you lose money. I'll forego the convenience, thanks.

I wouldn’t do it with strangers. But for friends and family it’s awesome. We use it to split checks at dinner and reimburse each other for various things. Our daughter uses it to pay us “rent” every month.

 

[disneysteve]

Sounds good although it looks like both parties have to be enrolled in Zelle for it to work best.

The beauty of it is that nearly everyone with a bank account already has it. They just have to activate it. It’s through the banking system. I’ve only run into one or two people who used a credit union that didn't participate in the system.

It also doesn’t require a separate app or password. It’s all part of your bank’s existing software.

 

[ERD50]

I write paper checks and send them in the mail with a US Postage stamp. I want to support these institutions and keep them available. ....

-gauss

But don't they lose money with every letter mailed? Maybe you are adding to the problem!

-ERD50

 

[MichaelB]

The problem with Zelle is the structure. It does not transfer from bank to bank, it transfers from email to email, where each email is associated with a bank and account. In that way it removes itself from much of the regulatory system governing transaction fraud and electronic theft.

The banks have an option to implement real time payments using FedNow, a recently announced payments system developed and implemented by the Federal Reserve Bank, but so far few have opted to do so, and those that have are using it for business customers.

 

[audreyh1]

The problem with Zelle is the structure. It does not transfer from bank to bank, it transfers from email to email, where each email is associated with a bank and account. In that way it removes itself from much of the regulatory system governing transaction fraud and electronic theft.

The banks have an option to implement real time payments using FedNow, a recently announced payments system developed and implemented by the Federal Reserve Bank, but so far few have opted to do so, and those that have are using it for business customers.

Thanks and interesting. FedNow sounds much better. I’ve dealt with Plaid a few times which is a bank interface between financial institutions and businesses. That seemed very secure as once I identified the financial institution I was able to interact with my bank directly with all the 2FA stuff in place.

It may be that with Plaid already in place banks aren’t so motivated, however things like this just take time to percolate across systems.

Zelle gives me the heebie jeebies but I’ve only used it with trusted individuals whose cellphone numbers and emails I’ve known or verified.

 

[Koolau]

The referenced article was in our local paper today and concerns how payment methods have changed over the years.

https://edition.pagesuite.com/popov...0a15ddfa-bc9b-4e58-a34d-ed707e6b2156&pnum=72#

Yep, still write checks - between 100 and 200 per year. YMMV

 

[disneysteve]

Zelle gives me the heebie jeebies but I’ve only used it with trusted individuals whose cellphone numbers and emails I’ve known or verified.

It's funny. Some people are bothered by Zelle because it's directly through your bank account while others are bothered by Venmo because there's a middleman involved. At least both options exist so there's a choice for everyone.