Cheques

It's hard to teach old dogs new tricks.

Well, that might be. Same was until the the 60's/early 70's of last century here, too. (In 1971, I even got my salary in cash!)

I still use checks, but I also do some bank transfers on line.

I only use a check if someone like my insurance company or the Toyota dealership where I bought my car, who require a void check to set up an automatic monthly withdraw from my account, otherwise I never use them.
I pay all my bills online and use my debit or credit card everywhere I shop.
I have my bank make me up a few checks about every five years and even then I may not go through them.

I thought my mom was the only one left who still used checks

Why do you start the automatic monthly withdraw with a cheque? (I do such online, but exactly that is done since the 50's by normal bank orders.)

Well, and why not for all payments?

They just want a void check to have all my bank info, account #, Bank branch #, etc...
Not sure why they do it this way and it's only the insurance companies and the dealership I can think of who ask for them.

Exactly that's what (online or still written ["real paper"]) makes a bank transmit easier.

I use them very rarely. About the only thing I regularly pay for with a check is the mortgage, as I have to specifically delineate where extra money is going (to the principal; they would earmark it as interest if I didn't so specify). But the mortgage company is online and so may have a way of doing that, that's something I can check (heh) out.

But otherwise, no.

As for what Montana is saying, that's just for the first round, in order to get started with direct deposit. Most companies require it simply because they want to get it right the first time. It's your paycheck (usually) so it's important and they've found (every accountant or bookkeeper who ever asked for a blank check for a direct deposit set up has told me the same thing) that people don't always copy down the correct numbers when filling out a direct deposit permission form. It's just easier.

My folks still send checks, which I find nutty and strange, but that's how they do things. Whenever we need to send money to an individual, we send it electronically through the bank. At our bank, you can set up a private individual for a payment so long as you have a valid name and address for them.

Well, here they say it exactly the other way around (and that is plausible, IMHO):
- cheques cost money and someone has to care for them,
- filling out the bank transfer the antique way (=at the bank on paper), the bank identification code is already printed in or can be looked up easily(by a bank account, for instance),
- doing it online, most is filled out already.

When starting a job, the bank account is one of the things you have to give to your employer .... so that you can get your salary on date on your own bank account.

On any bill/invoice you get the relevant dat.
I sincerely doubt that cheques from a (private) person are accepted by many firms/companies. (In several European countries the use of cheques is completely stopped since several years. And here, in Germany, you get an extra charge on it.)

One of the reasons might be that it is so much easier to spell check rather than cheque. :wink:

Jes is right that they just ask for it one time to set up the direct deposit/withdraw. Sorry I forgot to mention that.

I understood that. But that still seems to be more complicated - and expensive.

Oh yes, there's also employers that want that void check. The bank gives me a few free checks whenever I ask them for them and as I stated earlier, it may be 3 checks every 5 years.
I would imagine that the insurance companies, car dealerships and all the employers would have to be set up online to do it online.
My insurance, car loan and a few other things are automatically deducted from my account monthly, so the void check is just a one time deal until the loan is either paid or I switch insurance companied.

It's also a pain in the ass and I wish they'd change it.

I use checks for certain things - like jespah says for mortgage so I can choose to pay more off on principle (or is it principal I always forget).

Other things I have charged directly to my credit card (get points and extras for that) - then I pay on line to the credit card company.

Others that I can't charge directly to my credit card - I still pay by check - I just simply haven't gotten around to set up my pay on line since getting a new bank. My previous bank charged extra for paying online so I used to use checks - it was cheaper.

Gotta love those credit card points. I pay the balance every month and rack up those points, which I use for free gas. I'm a points girl

That's the key - pay it off each month and take advantage of the freebies.

Well, my banks have informed me that they will no longer return canceled checks. I have my mortgage automatically withheld and I pay up my credit card every month. I guess I over reacted, because I thought that I needed a canceled check to prove that I had paid a bill.

Now, I have to call and see what checks have been returned, etc.

I guess no paper trail is a good way to save money and also to prevent identity theft.