Who Is Still Writing Checks

[rk911]

i was behind a lady at the grocery checkout who had a full cart of food a few years back. the checker took many minutes to scan it all and when he was done he gave her the total. then, and only then, did she open her purse and begin to rummage around for what I thought was her wallet. nope...she finally pulled out her checkbook, opened it and began filling out a check for the correct amount...after asking the checker who the check should be made out to.

 

[youbet]

i was behind a lady at the grocery checkout who had a full cart of food a few years back. the checker took many minutes to scan it all and when he was done he gave her the total. then, and only then, did she open her purse and begin to rummage around for what I thought was her wallet. nope...she finally pulled out her checkbook, opened it and began filling out a check for the correct amount...after asking the checker who the check should be made out to.

Excellent! So much fun! Sorry if I don't seem sympathetic, but being RE'd and not having to stress out about being in a check-out line for a couple of extra minutes has been a key benefit of being FIRE'd.

 

[SecondCor521]

Send a check to Fidelity for my annual HSA contribution.

I'm able to make Fidelity HSA contributions via ACH from my checking account.

I've written two checks this year. One was for a parking ticket in another city, and the other one was the easiest way to reimburse my Dad for something. I'm pretty sure I deposited the latter into his checking account.

I reconcile periodically in Quicken as I feel like it. Relatively easy to do, even if I let an account go for a few months. I always reconcile all of my accounts to the penny at year end.

 

[Cayman]

My mother is still writing checks. I encourage her to do what makes her most comfortable.

 

[Dtail]

Perhaps around 4 checks a year.

 

[Gumby]

Exactly, which is why I said to only use Zelle with people you know and trust. No chance of sending to the wrong person or getting an odd request when you're only dealing with people you know.

Interesting article about Zelle fraud. They thought they knew exactly who they were sending money to. They were wrong. https://www.businessinsider.com/zel...0/02/23&utm_term=News Alerts: Finance/Economy

 

[disneysteve]

Interesting article about Zelle fraud. They thought they knew exactly who they were sending money to. They were wrong.

Some random contractor is not somebody who I would count on my list of people I know and trust. They never should have used Zelle for that. When I say "know and trust" I'm talking about friends and family.

 

[jazz4cash]

Wow. What a ridiculous story. Too much fluff. I guess I’m too old fashioned. I agree the couple got scammed but I don’t think it’s accurate to say their money was stolen. Some of the details make no sense (bank branches were still closed?). To me it’s not do much a problem with zelle as people getting careless. Maybe the gov’t or industry will put safeguards in place like we have for credit cards but it’s really different when the transfer is authorized by the consumer.

My very good friend needed $1000 while traveling. I sent him $50 via zelle as a trail transfer. After confirming by phone that he received the deposit, I sent the rest.

 

[audreyh1]

I don’t know about Business Insider Mexico, but Zelle is certainly ripe for scammers and apparently banks are barely responsive:

• Banks are not repaying 90% of cases in which customers were tricked into making payments on Zelle.
• An estimated $440 million was lost by Zelle users through frauds and scams in 2021. But banks “appear not to have provided sufficient recourse to their customers.”
• “Authorized” vs “Unauthorized:” Under the a federal rule known as Regulation E, banks are technically only liable to cover fraudulent activity when it involves “unauthorized” transactions. Say, when someone steals your credit card andmakes purchases without your permission. But if someone persuades you to send them $500 through a phishing scam, banks consider that “authorized” and won’t reimburse those funds.
• BUT… The bank data reviewed by Warren’s office suggest even the bulk of unauthorized cases are going unpaid. For example: PNC Bank indicated that its customers reported 10,683 cases of unauthorized payments totaling over $10.6 million. It refunded only 1,495 cases, totaling $1.46 million.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/03/business/nightcap-zelle-fraud-warren-investigation/index.html

So again definitely only use with known trusted contacts. Preferably known for a long time.

And if someone sends you too much asking for excess returned, don’t do it. Just like with other payment scams.

 

[Texas Proud]

Interesting article about Zelle fraud. They thought they knew exactly who they were sending money to. They were wrong. https://www.businessinsider.com/zel...0/02/23&utm_term=News Alerts: Finance/Economy

Ouch... behind a paywall... would love to have read it so I could tell my DD

 

[jazz4cash]

Ouch... behind a paywall... would love to have read it so I could tell my DD

No paywall for me. Try this

https://www.businessinsider.com/zel...ol-online-payment-apps-mobile-banking-2023-10

 

[rk911]

Color me confused but I fail to see how this is a Zelle issue. Seems more like account holders not doing their due dilligence before sending money. If Zelle did not exist these same people might've sent personal checks, money orders, etc. I recall cases where scammers convinced marks to buy gift cards and provide the scammers with the serial/pin numbers. The gift card providers aren't at fault, the banks aren't at fault for cashing a check sent to a scammer and I don't see how Zelle is at fault. It would be a different story if someone hacked Zelle and re-directed a payment meant for X to Y. Is that happening? Full disclosure: I recently sold some auto parts (in-person sale) and received payment via Zelle.

 

[audreyh1]

Color me confused but I fail to see how this is a Zelle issue. Seems more like account holders not doing their due dilligence before sending money. If Zelle did not exist these same people might've sent personal checks, money orders, etc. I recall cases where scammers convinced marks to buy gift cards and provide the scammers with the serial/pin numbers. The gift card providers aren't at fault, the banks aren't at fault for cashing a check sent to a scammer and I don't see how Zelle is at fault. It would be a different story if someone hacked Zelle and re-directed a payment meant for X to Y. Is that happening? Full disclosure: I recently sold some auto parts (in-person sale) and received payment via Zelle.

Right classic techniques used with gift cards, fake cashiers checks, overpayment, etc. Scammer just figured out how to translate them to Zelle.

 

[jazz4cash]

Color me confused but I fail to see how this is a Zelle issue. Seems more like account holders not doing their due dilligence before sending money. If Zelle did not exist these same people might've sent personal checks, money orders, etc. I recall cases where scammers convinced marks to buy gift cards and provide the scammers with the serial/pin numbers. The gift card providers aren't at fault, the banks aren't at fault for cashing a check sent to a scammer and I don't see how Zelle is at fault. It would be a different story if someone hacked Zelle and re-directed a payment meant for X to Y. Is that happening? Full disclosure: I recently sold some auto parts (in-person sale) and received payment via Zelle.

Confused as well.

 

[Koolau]

Seriously? I was lucky to get 5 shaves out of one of those throwaways. I probably could have got more but I "liked" a sharp razor and close shave. In any case, no need to worry about that anymore.

It's possible that my shaves along about 25 or so weren't the best job, but even when w*rking, I never worried too much about it.

Now that most of my beard is white, it barely shows and the electric (bad as it is) is good enough.

I still recall my morning routine and knowing that I could shave in (literally) one minute. Fresh from the shower, my beard was "ready." One quick squirt of Barbasol, slather the face. No rinse until the last swipe. No facial hair to deal with back in the day (now, a different story,) One minute - tops! Now, I take longer than that with the electric 'cause it's so inefficient (heh, heh, after 11 years.)

 

[Koolau]

I still write checks. lol my HOA recently started charging a 1.7% fee for using a credit card or on line. which gets my goat, so I write them a check. there are a few charities I send checks to.

That's something we now do with auto-pay (a new experience for us.) Felt "dirty" giving them our checking account info. Kinda nice, though, not needing to send a check every month. YMMV

 

[jazz4cash]

That's something we now do with auto-pay (a new experience for us.) Felt "dirty" giving them our checking account info. Kinda nice, though, not needing to send a check every month. YMMV

DW won’t provide account info to use any e-pay program. I can’t convince her it’s the same since the info is printed on the check anyway.