I'm an American. A business I own pays for utilities (internet, gas, water, electric, garbage, sewer), workers comp, credit card bills, service people (electrician, carpenter, accountant), income taxes, and insurance by check. At home I also pay my personal utilities, credit card, service people, some medical, income taxes, and insurance by check. In-person over-the-counter purchases are paid by credit card.

I'm 43, and I don't even know how to do a bank transfer. Sounds amazing. I don't like checks at all. If I don't mind paying a fee, I'll use one of the apps. But for moving money around, checks are all I know. I don't think I'm that unusual in the USA.

I'm in Australia. All the major and I'm pretty sure all or almost all of the minor banks and bank-like businesses (Building Societies and Credit Unions here) use a thing called PayID. I can send almost everybody I know money just by using their mobile phone number or email address, and the transfer happens from my account to theirs literally in seconds. I can also send money to anybody's BSB/Account Number, and that happens pretty much overnight. Writing a check feels like an archaic thing my parents used to do, like dialling a rotary telephone or sending a fax. I'm pretty sure if someone offered me payment by check, I'd turn it down assuming it's a scam. (I'm 56, for comparison)

BSB and account transfers are also largely instant. New and large transfers may take overnight.

Also, you missed an important part: zero fees.

It’s amazing how different the customs can be.

I’ve only received a check once in my life, in 2004 from a US company. I could not cash it with my regular (online) bank in Poland. I had to open a foreign currency account with the national bank, just for this check, and go to their special customer service department in person, at their HQ. It was like bringing them an alien artifact.

Hah. Once I had to get a wire transfer from a foreign company for some consulting work. I had to open up a new bank account just for that. It's like a mirror image.

use Arbonum, it does not take any hidden commissions, but immediately shows how much the commission will be. Usually from 3%.

It's also fast, easy to understand and the technical support works 24/7

You can get a Bank Cheque!

I've purchased a car privately this way.

Although, very sensibly, the seller met us at his bank and paid the Cheque in to his account whilst we were there. Fake Bank Cheques are a thing.

I havent used a Cheque Book since the late 1990s. We used to order take-away food in London and then pay with a Cheque and Cheque Guarantee Card when the driver got to the door!

Which of course meant you could buy food on a Friday if you had no money and didnt get paid until Monday! LOL :-)

The original BNPL Scheme! ;-)

But yes, I dont think they issue Cheque Books here in AU anymore. And if they did, what would you even do with one!

Can you imagine trying to pay in a shop with one!

> You can get a Bank Cheque!

> I've purchased a car privately this way.

I've done that, for a motorcycle. It was in 1999. I've bought a dozen or so vehicles since, all paid either in cash (for inexpensive ones) or bank transfer (anything over about $10,000). I'm also in AU.

To shed some light on why Americans kept checks for so long: I'm 33 and have never done a bank transfer. I can't even say what the flaws in our system are, because I grew up in a family where it was never considered as an option: money was sent as cash or checks only.

I moved Finland 30 years ago. Checks for private customers did no longer exist at that time. (Checks for businesses reportedly still existed a couple of years.)

Since the pandemic started I have not carried a wallet (paying cash was seen as some kind anti-social behavior with high risk to infect someone) There are zero places where I would need cash. An increasing number of places does not accept cash.

For some ten years we have had international account numbers (IBAN). Transfers inside the Euro zone cost nothing (included in every basic account package) and take one banking day.

Nowadays there are several transfer apps where the transfer takes seconds or less. I am not using those because I run a Google-free Android and have root on my phone.

I have some extra good news for you: https://www.brusselstimes.com/916540/10-second-transactions-...

Moving money using IBAN and home banking is genuinely insanely easy at this point inside the EU

An American mind cannot comprehend what you just said.

It is very convenient to send money online, but through banks it is expensive and if you use payment systems, study the question very carefully. i once got to a service that said that the transfer is free, but in the end I was charged a crazy hidden commission, so i now do not experiment and work through Arbonum for 3 years already.

> Truly. I had no idea anyone was still using cheques in 2024.

Pretty much nobody uses cheques anymore.

However, checks are alive and well.