Community Chat

[NYC Susan]

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@haddon9 wrote:

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@Laura14 wrote:

Depends on the amount and security of the event.  If it's $50 or under, I do cash.  More than that, I like a check even though I know it is a PIA these days because most people hate driving to the bank.  

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@Laura14 . I no longer drive to the bank to deposit a check.  I have a app on my phone and deposit it by taking a photo front & back of the check...So easy!

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Me too.  I assume most banks offer that option.

And I would definitely give a check rather than cash.  It's a good way to be sure the money is received by the right person. Cash is too risky.  When my family has had Bar Mitzvahs, gifts have never been in cash.  It's safer all around to give a check.

[NYC Susan]

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@Carmie wrote:

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@sunshine45 wrote:

i would think that MOST people put check or cash into a card and not just hand it to the recepient or the parent. or a decorated box placed in a safe area.

once the person is opening the cards probably at home, there are easy ways to record the gift inside. you can have a separate paper OR what i prefer to do is to write the amount on the back of the card and then go through them to send thank you notes.

whenever someone gives me a check as a gift, i actually write " thank you" on the check (usually in the memo section, sometimes on the back) and then call or write a thank you note in addition.

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If you write "thank you" on the check, the giver will probably never see it.  Banks do not return checks anymore.  You just get a monthly statement showing the check was cashed and sometimes, you don't even get that.  You have to view your statement online.

Of course, you can request to see a copy of the check or view it online,  but unless there is a specific reason to do that, no one does.

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I agree.  I'm pretty old school in some ways, but I can't remember the last time I saw one of my checks after I had written it.  Occasionally, I'll take a peek on my bank's app at a particular check if I don't remember it, but even then I only look at the front to see who I had made it out to.  I wouldn't notice the memo line and I definitely would have no reason to look at the back.

[NYC Susan]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

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@Shepherd wrote:

I'd give an AmEx gift card. Cash is better than a check. Checks are seldom used today and raise suspicion in some.

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@Shepherd.  Seriously?  Nobody has been too suspicious to not accept my checks.

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I was trying to figure out what would be suspicious about a check.  I still don't get it.  :-/

And I also wouldn't say that checks are seldom used today.  That's absolutely not true.  Check printing companies are alive and well, and many people write checks every day.

[sunshine45]

my personal check writing has gone way down from what it once was. i dont think i have ordered new checks in probably five years......and the last time i believe i ordered 200.

i pay online mostly and i use the ATM with my debit card.

my guess is is that the check printing business has dropped considerably in recent years. it wont totally go away, but with so many other options, it most surely has decreased.  i know that my young adult children rarely use checks......other than to pay a rent bill. my 21 year old doesnt even have printed checks.

[NYC Susan]

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@sunshine45 wrote:

my personal check writing has gone way down from what it once was. i dont think i have ordered new checks in probably five years......and the last time i believe i ordered 200.

i pay online mostly and i use the ATM with my debit card.

my guess is is that the check printing business has dropped considerably in recent years. it wont totally go away, but with so many other options, it most surely has decreased.  i know that my young adult children rarely use checks......other than to pay a rent bill. my 21 year old doesnt even have printed checks.

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I agree that overall check-writing has decreased quite a bit from what it once was.  But checks are still in use by many people.  Businesses still use checks too.  I received two checks in the mail just this week - one from my auto insurance company and another from a bank. 

It's not as though checks have gone the way of the dinosaurs.  I'm not sure if you're replying to my post, but my point was that it's inaccurate to say that checks are "seldom" used.  Checks are written, cashed, and deposited every day.  I would never agree with giving cash rather than a check because checks are seldom used.  That doesn't make sense to me and it's not accurate.

[sunshine45]

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@NYC Susan wrote:

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@sunshine45 wrote:

my personal check writing has gone way down from what it once was. i dont think i have ordered new checks in probably five years......and the last time i believe i ordered 200.

i pay online mostly and i use the ATM with my debit card.

my guess is is that the check printing business has dropped considerably in recent years. it wont totally go away, but with so many other options, it most surely has decreased.  i know that my young adult children rarely use checks......other than to pay a rent bill. my 21 year old doesnt even have printed checks.

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I agree that overall check-writing has decreased quite a bit from what it once was.  But checks are still in use by many people.  Businesses still use checks too.  I received two checks in the mail just this week - one from my auto insurance company and another from a bank. 

It's not as though checks have gone the way of the dinosaurs.  I'm not sure if you're replying to my post, but my point was that it's inaccurate to say that checks are "seldom" used.  Checks are written, cashed, and deposited every day.  I would never agree with giving cash rather than a check because checks are seldom used.  That doesn't make sense to me and it's not accurate.

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i did not say that at all. i am just talking about writing checks in general and why many people are moving away from it.

“While online bill pay has been taken up by four out of five households, that still leaves 20% of the population writing checks to pay bills,” explained Lou Grilli, director of payments strategy at CSCU.

i really dont care how people choose to give the gift of money....it is totally their choice, of course. when one of my daughters graduated from college last year, we had a party for her and she did not get one check.....everything was either a gift, cash, or gift cards.

i did say that i prefer giving cash for gifts and paying my bills in ways other than writing a check. i even have my mom paying most of her bills using the phone or using the internet.

a customer writing checks instead of paying bills online actually costs the banks and its customers more than someone who chooses to pay their bills online.

as far as businesses go, yes, we DO still write checks, but even that for us has dropped.......i can pay most bills online OR use my debit card or credit card for purchases related to our business.

http://www.cutoday.info/THE-boost/20-Of-People-Still-Write-Checks

A Federal Reserve study of the payments system in 2013 documented the slide: From 2000 to 2012, the number of checks paid declined by more than 50 percent as payments through cards, direct deposit and other services more than tripled.

A 2013 survey by payment solutions company WePay showed that 52 percent of millennials never use checks. And 64 percent of consumers write fewer than three checks per month — up from 35 percent three years earlier.

https://www.npr.org/2016/03/03/468890515/is-it-time-to-write-off-checks

[willdob3]

Cash. 

[Jordan2]

I would give a check made out in the Bar Mitzvah boy's name. Cash can be lost or pocketed by someone else (just saying, maybe parents).

[NYC Susan]

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@sunshine45 wrote:

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@NYC Susan wrote:

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@sunshine45 wrote:

my personal check writing has gone way down from what it once was. i dont think i have ordered new checks in probably five years......and the last time i believe i ordered 200.

i pay online mostly and i use the ATM with my debit card.

my guess is is that the check printing business has dropped considerably in recent years. it wont totally go away, but with so many other options, it most surely has decreased.  i know that my young adult children rarely use checks......other than to pay a rent bill. my 21 year old doesnt even have printed checks.

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I agree that overall check-writing has decreased quite a bit from what it once was.  But checks are still in use by many people.  Businesses still use checks too.  I received two checks in the mail just this week - one from my auto insurance company and another from a bank. 

It's not as though checks have gone the way of the dinosaurs.  I'm not sure if you're replying to my post, but my point was that it's inaccurate to say that checks are "seldom" used.  Checks are written, cashed, and deposited every day.  I would never agree with giving cash rather than a check because checks are seldom used.  That doesn't make sense to me and it's not accurate.

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i did not say that at all. i am just talking about writing checks in general and why many people are moving away from it.

“While online bill pay has been taken up by four out of five households, that still leaves 20% of the population writing checks to pay bills,” explained Lou Grilli, director of payments strategy at CSCU.

i really dont care how people choose to give the gift of money....it is totally their choice, of course. when one of my daughters graduated from college last year, we had a party for her and she did not get one check.....everything was either a gift, cash, or gift cards.

i did say that i prefer giving cash for gifts and paying my bills in ways other than writing a check. i even have my mom paying most of her bills using the phone or using the internet.

a customer writing checks instead of paying bills online actually costs the banks and its customers more than someone who chooses to pay their bills online.

as far as businesses go, yes, we DO still write checks, but even that for us has dropped.......i can pay most bills online OR use my debit card or credit card for purchases related to our business.

http://www.cutoday.info/THE-boost/20-Of-People-Still-Write-Checks

A Federal Reserve study of the payments system in 2013 documented the slide: From 2000 to 2012, the number of checks paid declined by more than 50 percent as payments through cards, direct deposit and other services more than tripled.

A 2013 survey by payment solutions company WePay showed that 52 percent of millennials never use checks. And 64 percent of consumers write fewer than three checks per month — up from 35 percent three years earlier.

https://www.npr.org/2016/03/03/468890515/is-it-time-to-write-off-checks

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I know what you said.  I was replying to your post, which seemed to be a reply to what I had written in response to another poster who said that checks are seldom used and so it would be suspicious to give them as gifts.  

I don't think anyone is disputing the fact that checks are not in use anywhere near as much as they used to be.  That's pretty widely-known. 

[SydneyH]

No question, I'd be writing a check.