[robocat]

That sounds like the path dependent consequences of the oddities of the US banking system.

Cheques cause significant processing costs*, so market forces idealistically should eventually select for quicker and less risky payment forms.

Cheques are no longer used in New Zealand because businesses didn't want to receive them once better (from the businesses' POV) forms of payment existed. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38159600

Australia is also cancelling cheques: "Earlier this month, the government announced it was following New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands and others, closing our cheque system down by 2030" - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-21/cash-almost-gone-aust...

* From the Ozzie article: "The average cost of everything that had to happen to process a cheque exceeds $5 per payment"