> And who still uses cheques these days?!
US uses them for business-to-customer payments, especially unsolicited ones, because we don't want to give random businesses we don't know our bank account numbers.
You can pay people instantly by refunding their debit cards - that's how Uber drivers can get paid - but it's not free, which is why most transfers don't go that way.
There's no inherent information risk to giving out an account number that justifies an outdated paper-based system. Especially when one considers the accompanying fraud risk thereof.
The instant I moved to Europe, I realized just how far behind consumer banking is in the US. It's pitiful.
Yes, as well as the routing number.
> There's no inherent information risk to giving out an account number …
Of _course_ there is. In the US, the account + routing number is sufficient to perform a ACH transfer, write checks against that account, etc.
The risk is enormous.
> Especially when one considers the accompanying fraud risk thereof.
I’m assuming you misunderstood the risk when you wrote the above. It is, in fact, extremely high.
So… how does writing a check remove this risk then? That was the original point, that writing a check is safer than giving out your account number.
Not in Europe it's not, which is monodeldiablo's point: there's no inherent risk to giving out your account number. It's only the primitive US system which makes it a risk.
Meanwhile, how close is the US to making Chip-and-PIN a thing?
And who still uses cheques these days?!