whats up with usa and checks ?

easier to keep records

I find it very interesting that checks remain as popular as they do in the USA. Living in Montreal, it is something that doesn't make logical sense to me. However, I have done plenty of research into this over the past couple months (to aid in convincing merchants to accept checks) and have found a few reasons.

1) People do not qualify for credit cards. (more than 1 million Americans file for bankruptcy every year.
2) People enjoy working with a positive balance. (they either do not want the annoyance of paying interest or do not want the headaches of being in debt.)
3) They live in a small town where they know the bankers and choose to support their local bank.
4) They are firm New Testament believers and believe that lending and borrowing money are sins.

There are probably 50 more reasons that people could put here...I think that checking will remain a large part of the American economy for a long time.

James

Do you know of a better way to send someone money?

Cash is insecure and wire transfers are expensive.

There is a major shift in the US from paper checks to electronic, whether it be Direct Deposit Payroll, Commercial Cash Concentration, B2B payments, EBPP (electronic bill payment and presentment), RCK (check collection), ARC (account receivable collection) and of course, direct debit.

The US still uses a large amount of paper checks compared to other countries, so there is a huge market for converting paper to electronic.

I'm sure many of you have paid at the point of sale with a check only to have it scanned and returned right back to you.

Long live ACH.

What does living in Montreal have to do with using checks? Canadians probably use just as many checks as Americans.

before long checks will be obsolete...what business wants to run the risk of someones check bouncing when they can collect their funds automatically with cc or dc?

No, they don't. Because of the small number of Canadian banks (7 as opposed to 14 000 in the USA) Interac has been developed and 95% of Canadians who have a bank account have an Interac card which allows either direct payment or the removal of funds on any street corner. Of course, checks are still used a little in the more rural areas, but because of the bank centralization, the number is very low.

James

Interac is only good for paying a business. You can't pay another person using Interac. Besides, American banks have both Visa debit cards and Mastercard debit cards (which Canada doesn't have), these debit cards instantly withdraw money from your account (just like Interac). Visa and Mastercard debit cards can also be used online or anywhere normal Visa/mastercard can be used. Visa/Mastercard debit cards are not credit cards, you can only spend up to the amount of money that is in your bank account at the time.

yea i can send money on internet to another bank account here
doesnt cost a dime since the bank is happy i do all the work
companys here have payroll lists with peoples bank acct numbers
and simply just wire the money to each acct.

Here in the netherlands we have electronic cash. Even paper money is slowly becomming obsolete.

Everyone has a pass with a secret code than can be used to access your bank accound wherever you go at no additional cost and most merchants have payment terminals in their shop. Most banks offer software you can use to transfer money instantly and all employers sent your money directly into your bank account.

When i order books from an online shop i get the product delivered and then pay the merchant useing my banking software. I'ts easy, fast and secure.

I don't understand why America (the land of technology?) still uses cheques.