I write a dozen checks or so a month. US banks typically do not charge someone to receive a paper check, and the only cost of writing a paper check is acquiring the piece of paper, which doesn’t need to be bought from the bank and is relatively inexpensive.
Furthermore, all electronic payment systems in the US are either operated by for-profit companies (VISA, Venmo), or are not available to consumers for one off transactions (ACH).
The result is that for many circumstances, paper checks are the cheapest way to move money around, even after accounting for their credit and fraud risks.
I write paper checks for:
• municipal utilities that either don’t accept electronic payment, or have a surcharge for electronic payment that exceeds my costs for writing checks.
• services provided by individuals or sometimes small businesses. While these sorts of people accept Venmo and their competitors more often than they used to, many of them still prefer a check.
• quarterly state and federal tax payments. While these guys accept EFT, the websites are terrible so it’s usually a better use of my time to mail a check.
• anybody who will give me a greater than 1.5% discount for paying by check rather than credit card. Contractors and small medical offices fall into this category most often. But sometimes also local shops for large ticket purchases.
Based in the UK, some of these answers are absolutely wild. It's probably 20 years since I've written a cheque - certainly we don't routinely have chequebooks any more.
Pretty much everything is done through electronic transfers - either Direct Debits, which occur on a regular (usually monthly) basis, or ad-hoc payments a straightforward transfer which are rated to go through within a few hours, but which usually happens within 1 minute.
Does anyone know what conditions need to be in place for this level of convenience to take place?
I've written one check in the last two decades, because it was the only overlapping means by which me & the destination merchant could transact.
It almost happened twice, but the other time it actually ended up being a direct bank-to-bank transfer.
Where it happens IME is large value transactions, where the merchant isn't capable of ACH, basically. Any normal bill payment like rent or utilities can do ACH, so that leaves large purchases. The one above was for a car.
I'd say I write about 2 to 6 checks per year? It's the easiest payment method that doesn't come with transaction fees (eg 0.3-5% for a card; similar for app payments). So it's pretty common for higher-ticket items where the transaction fee costs much more than a check+stamp and neither party wants to eat that cost. Things like paying home contractors, property taxes, buying a car or other expensive items.
Really depends. I think we have to write one maybe every other month? We own a house, and a lot of contractors (plumbers, electricians, etc) will accept cash or check - and while paying $300 cash for a plumbing job is easy, it's more difficult to get $7500 in cash out of the bank to pay for a heavier renovation project.
If you rent, you'll often have to send a check off monthly.
I don't remember the last time I've mailed a check, however.
> and while paying $300 cash for a plumbing job is easy, it's more difficult to get $7500 in cash out of the bank to pay for a heavier renovation project.
Inflation makes this worse, too. I used to keep a handful of $100s in my wallet to pay for little odds and ends like a plumber or someone hauling trash to the dump. If I wanted to keep doing that, my wallet would have to fit a whole stack of them. The highest denomination bill printed by the US no longer even covers a night out at a mid-tier restaurant.
On top of that, $100s are useless at the many stores who refuse to take them, despite being worth only a little more than a $20 was the year I was born.
I would say approximately quarterly for me, maybe yearly. Some people only want a check, and also checks Just Work in a way that digital payments don't. Like, I can't use Venmo because they absolutely refuse to verify my bank account, so for anyone who takes Venmo or a check it means I need to pay them by check. It's uncommon, but common enough that it's still a basic part of being a functional adult.
Also, the apps have limits. There have been times where someone was giving me a value larger than the apps would allow due to daily limits, and was going to force multiple transactions at the max amount. Or, they could write a check, and the full deposit could be made.
At the end of the day, if someone is trying to give you money using a valid form of payment, why would you not accept it. Driving to the bank to make a deposit (again, value too high for app check deposit) is a minor deviation to my day, but am I going to say no because of that. Some people are just weird with their protests to checks.
I wrote 37 checks in the last 12 months, not counting my bank's online Bill Pay which itself is just an automation for writing and mailing physical checks. If you counted Bill Pay, I've probably paid with checks about 100 times in the last year. Like others said, mostly contractors and service providers for the home, and regular utility bills. Also property taxes. I go through checks like crazy.
I write a physical check maybe every other year or so. I receive maybe 4 or 5 physical checks a year, either from older relatives or compensation from companies. I deposit them with my bank's cellphone app so it is no hassle at all.
I paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to my contractors via paper cheques. Completely wild to me as someone who grew up with the practice. You'd think we had a better way, but wires and ACH transfers are still relatively clunky.
We still use them monthly (about 6 a month). I've been shafted by ACH autopay too many times to trust any company with electronic payments anymore. Fallen back to just writing checks for utilities, mortgage, etc.
Furthermore, all electronic payment systems in the US are either operated by for-profit companies (VISA, Venmo), or are not available to consumers for one off transactions (ACH).
The result is that for many circumstances, paper checks are the cheapest way to move money around, even after accounting for their credit and fraud risks.
I write paper checks for:
• municipal utilities that either don’t accept electronic payment, or have a surcharge for electronic payment that exceeds my costs for writing checks.
• services provided by individuals or sometimes small businesses. While these sorts of people accept Venmo and their competitors more often than they used to, many of them still prefer a check.
• quarterly state and federal tax payments. While these guys accept EFT, the websites are terrible so it’s usually a better use of my time to mail a check.
• anybody who will give me a greater than 1.5% discount for paying by check rather than credit card. Contractors and small medical offices fall into this category most often. But sometimes also local shops for large ticket purchases.