Posted by CreditCardGuru
A recent story on BBC recently reported that the payment method of the check turned 350 years old on Monday. Which brings us to the question… how much longer will checks be around? Most Americans born in the eighties and later have never even had their own check book because they use online bill pay, debit and credit cards, direct deposit, and other forms of payment.
Still think checks will always be around? Don’t be so sure. Checks are now rarely used in Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and Belgium, and they’re not used at all anymore in the Netherlands. The only developed countries still using checks are the United States and the United Kingdom. And to see how rapidly it’s changing, ask yourself this question: Compared to the 90’s, how often do you see people at the grocery store paying with a check?
Others say “cash is king” and making a comeback because of the economy. But that actually is not correct. Well it is true that individuals and businesses alike have less credit available today, it doesn’t mean they’re paying with cash; instead debit cards are the popular alternative to credit.
Tags: banking, checks, credit cards
Posted in General | Comments (3)
February 20th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
I highly doubt checks will remain much longer. They are not reliable how can you know if the money is there to back up the amount they write it for? I think everything will be electronic realtime soon whether that is credit cards or something else.
February 21st, 2009 at 7:53 pm
checks are gone like the dinosaurs are…..
February 24th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
The only thing I have a checkbook for is paying my rent. That’s it.