1. I've never written or deposited a cheque; I don't know that I've even seen one.

2. I've written them to myself to transfer money between accounts when electronic transfer restrictions are too painful, etc.

May be I'm confused but it seems a case of either or :)

They've never written a _cheque_, they have written a _check_

>Contractors like them,

Can cheques in USA be cashed out? I mean, can a contractor take a check to any bank and exchange it for cash or do they have to be paid into an account (and money accessed 3-5 days later)?

I only ask because usually contractors want to avoid cards/back transfer did they don't have to declare the income and can do tax fraud.

Back in the 80s in UK you could "cash a cheque" meaning take it to a bank and get cash. Chequebooks then were printed as "crossed cheques" which couldn't be cashed [easily?]. Then by the 90s one wasn't guaranteed to get the money unless a "guarantee card" had its details copied onto the cheque -- for which an imprinting machine was used (still a valid technique about 10 years ago).

Checks can still be cashed in the U.S. either by going to the bank it was written on, or to a “check cashing” place that tends to operate in the poorer section of towns, near pawn shops and rent to own furniture stores. Those places charge rather outrageous fees, but they’re taking fairly large risks of being scammed relative to a bank.