Are You a Check Snob? People Who Hate Check Writers

Wandering over at the Consumerist today, there’s an article on Certigy deciding if K-Mart will accept your check.

Now, while the article itself was pretty interesting, the TRUELY interesting part was the discussion in the comments about writing checks altogether. Here’s a small selection of some of the more interesting comments I found.

I’m sorry, there’s really only one reason to use a check, and that’s because you don’t actually have the money in your account. Otherwise, you’d save yourself the time and just use your debit/credit card.

Yeah, that’s the ONLY reason.

When you take a minute to fill out the check, then I or one of my employees has to verify all the info on it, then run it through the check draft machine, it totals up to at least two minutes. Swiping a card NEVER takes that long, sorry.

Boo hoo, cry me a freakin’ river. THAT’S YOUR JOB, deal with it.

and, of course, my all time favorite.

HOLY CRAP it’s the year 2008 and people are still using checks at retail stores! Did you ride up to the K-mart in your horse & carriage?

In Defense of the Lowly Check

Now, from reading so far, you might think that I’m a fan of the venerable check. Not true. There are a multitude of problems with the paper check nowadays, but that’s not a reason for all the hatred. Many of the comments sniped at the "time it takes stupid people to figure out how to write the checks". This is a petty generalization along the lines of "Women are bad drivers" or "Poor people just don’t work hard enough". Some ‘privileged’ individuals taking a pot-shot at a group with only anecdotal evidence at best.

Get a life!

Being annoyed at someone in front of you in line, taking up your precious time is a sign that you either don’t have enough planning skills to deal with delays to your day, or are so far into the A personality scale that they have to make up a NEW scale just to fit you in.

Don’t Hate the Playa, Hate the Game

Whew, ok, now with the rant out of the way, let’s talk a bit about why checks should start going the way of the dinosaur.

Security – The biggest issue with checks is security. They have your bank account, routing number, name, address, and in some cases, even your social security number or driver’s license number on them. If they don’t, they will have by the end of the sale, as almost EVERY merchant asks you for this information every time you use one of these. As the check physically passes through the hands of various checkers, tellers, accountants, mail handlers, etc. that information is available for the unscrupulous to copy down and use in identity theft.

Fraud – Having your account and routing number available also allows others to fraudulently write checks with your information on them. I recall an instance where my bank called me in to verify that a check they had received was NOT from me (even though the check itself had someone else’s name, address, and phone number on it, it had MY account number and routing information on it). Those same "print your own checks at home" kits they used to sell a few years ago can just as easily make checks for SOMEONE ELSE’S ACCOUNT TOO.

Convenience – Admittedly, without going to the asinine extreme that some of the comments went to, there is a delay in taking checks at various stores. This wait can be extended by verifications, data entry, and other things that the teller has to do to accept the check. It’s like most businesses don’t WANT to make it easy to use checks any more. (They probably don’t, but they might want to be a bit less blatant about it).

If this isn’t enough to make you think about going paperless, then by all means, continue using checks. Personally, I’m not in THAT big of a hurry to get anywhere that a couple of extra minutes is going to knock me off my stride.

Bling-bling Alternatives

Since checks are becoming passe’, the main contender for its replacement is the Debit Card. Most banks now give you a debit card when you open a checking account, and they usually have the MasterCard or Visa logo, so are taken almost everywhere. (Key word: ALMOST).

Debit cards still have their own drawbacks too.

Not Taken Everywhere – If they take credit cards, they’ll take debit cards, but if they don’t accept credit cards, it might be nice to have a checkbook or some cash on hand. Never know when you’re going to be stranded REALLY far outside of civilization and need that gallon or two of gas before that strange hitchhiker makes his move.
Tend to Spend More – As with credit cards, debit card users tend to spend more without thinking about it. Running a debit card through a reader for a $4.95 Starbucks coffee is easier than whipping out the checkbook and paying for it. The former doesn’t take any thought, while the latter may make you think twice, especially if you only have 1-2 checks left in the book.
Different Paper Trail – With checks, you have proof of purchase, and you can easily remember what you bought where/ With Debit cards, you get this little print-out which usually ends up as pocket fluff after you forget to take it out of the pocket before wash day.

Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Checks still have their place in society, as does cash, credit cards, and other payment methods. We’ve gotten away from carrying around pigs and cattle as trade items, and eventually the check (and maybe even cash) will gradually die away as less and less people use them. Until that time, maybe you should wonder if you’re the one with the problem the next time you get annoyed at someone writing a check at the check-out line.

Do YOU still use checks? And if so, what do you use them for? Leave us a message and let us know.