Brett King has predicted the last personal check will be written in the US in 2018. Wells Fargo & Co. appears to have grown tired of waiting for ACH payments to clear, as well. On mortgage documents viewed by Bank Innovation recently, the bank writes:
If you choose to pay in full now, please detach this coupon and mail it along with your check to the address that appears on this coupon. Wells Fargo N.A. may clear your check electronically. Receipt of your check will authorize us to process your payment as an electronic debit to the account on which the check was written.
When will banks begin levying fees for the use of checks, which waste time and money? If mobile wallets don’t kill checks, a fee or two will.
And Cash is dead, too, right?!? Have you noticed the increase in gas stations offering a discount to people paying cash? Electronic banking comes with its own fees and headaches. And it appears not everyone likes ’em. :O)
Interesting that this is so prevalent at the pump but not elsewhere. In NYC, some over-the-counter restaurants use the opposite marketing approach, describing it as a charge for the use of cards vs. a discount for using cash, but it amounts to the same thing. Both of these surcharges are convenience costs. Getting cash now counts as an inconvenience for customers, and this will only be exaggerated with younger people.
Checks are not going to die, they are going to change. The VerifyValid service creates an image file which can be delivered via the internet and deposited without the paper. The check system has been efficient for hundreds of years – it’s about time it got a makeover! For more info see http://www.verifyvalid.com.
Thanks, Denise. Great video at VerifyValid. It certainly seems checks can expect a longer life in the commercial world than among consumers.
Death of checks. Death of cash. Death of branches. In a country that cannot muster the collective will to eliminate the lowly penny?? Rubbish. The reports of these ‘deaths’ are greatly exaggerated.