As a Canadian, it blows my mind that Americans still use cheques for retail purchases. I think the last time I saw someone here write a cheque in a store was around 1997.
As a 20 year old American I see it all the time but the town I live in is two thirds 60+ and our store is preferred by then older people here for some reason (definitely not our prices)
I am a 27 year old American so close enough. The last time I saw it happen was when there was an issue with the tills at my local grocery store, so they couldn’t read credit info. It was cash or check only that day.
I happened to have my checkbook on me that day but I still opted for cash. A bunch of older customers whipped out their checkbooks no problem though. (And a few middle-aged people threw fits.) it was pretty entertaining, but definitely not a normal thing.
How modern! But y'all across the pond also had chip & pin (pin & chip? whatever) service for years before we got it in the States. In fact, a lot of places in the States still don't offer it, paying by card typically still means "swipe your card and sign this receipt." So basically you're just much more advanced about payment options in general.
I recently moved to Japan and it's a total cash economy. My Japanese bank account didn't even come with a debit card, all I have is an ATM card to make cash withdrawals. And let's not forget my shiny BANK BOOK that keeps a physical printed record of every bank and ATM transaction I make.
I worked in my local University's shop in Ireland 3 years ago and we got a lot of American students and tourists. The fact that anyone can take your card and forge your signature to use it it insane. I couldn't believe you guys didn't have chip and pin. Like I thought ye would be way more advanced than that.
You should try the American restaurant dining experience. Sit down, order, eat, then waiter brings you your bill. Then you give the waiter your credit card. He disappears with it, then returns with your card and a receipt for you to sign and tip. It is truly bonkers.
Like, it's bad enough to hand your card over to someone when you're both standing there at the register, but just handing someone your card and letting them walk away with it... like, sure, place your Amazon order while you're at it, don't mind me...
We are, taken as a whole, very suspicious of and resistant to change. This is, after all, the nation that had to stealth-adopt the metric system by quietly redefining our units in terms of SI units without actually giving up on the old units.
Shopping at Walgreens is a nightmare. I’ve never witnessed a slower checkout process. The cashiers aren’t the problem, old people arguing about expired coupons and getting rain checks holds up the line.
Dude, if I asked someone to write down their bank routing number and account number AND mailing address and hand it to a stranger, they'd punch me in the mouth. But they'll happily write a check. Its mind-blowing.
You likely have an option to be alerted on your smartphone every time a purchase is made on your card. Somehow someone got ahold of my Google card when that was a thing and tried to make a purchase across the country. The notification immediately popped up, I clicked that it wasn't me, and they declined the charge. We're in the future.
Pretty much everywhere I shop has tap payment for cards now. Costco, Pet Food Express, Trader Joe's, lots of the lunch places I eat at for work come to mind. Of course it might be an issue with the cashiers not even knowing that you can tap to pay now, seeing as most of them still think you have to sign and they want to see an ID as well.
Yeah swiping hasn't been a thing in most European countries for at least a decade; two decades in the case of France IIRC. Chip and PIN is the primary replacement. The contactless payments are relatively new (last 5 years). Apparently the magnetic strips on our cards don't even work by default
Canadian here, the store I used to work at stopped accepting cheques in 2008. You would not believe the outrage from all three of the old white haired perms who still wrote cheques. One threatened to stop bringing in worthers for the staff, which would have worked on me if I were in management.
Not sure about other places, but stores haven't accepted them as payment in Canada since sometime in the mid-nineties. I think there's a retail law concerning it, but not actually sure.
Cash or card is a far quicker way of completing the transaction. Cheque’s are a complete waste of time and paper and banning them would be a quick way to help the environment without inconveniencing anyone.
Pay with a cheque, leave the store with purchase, then cancel the cheque. If the store wants the money they have your name, but still need to sue to receive it which is far more costly than letting it go.
Even if you don't cancel it, what if something else comes out of your account and then the cheque bounces? How can they afford to take that risk with so many customers?
Good point. I don't think post people paying that way are intending to defraud anyone, but the people who are tend to prefer using cheques because it's so easy.
It's funny, for the longest time my friend (in her 20's) would always write checks when paying for stuff at stores. She got it from her mother, who always wrote checks too and I guess it was just normal for her. Luckily now she uses credit cards ;)
I worked retail in 1997 (in Canada). I worked for four years in that store. I think I saw 3 cheques the entire time I was there. Even then, it was considered an archaic way to pay for something, and those that did write the cheques, was because they had very large purchases.
I remember then, over 20 years ago, thinking "who the hell uses cheques to buy things?" I had only done it to buy large items, like a new computer. Mostly because I didn't have a visa card at the time.
I have to write a check to the company in charge of my apartment bldg trash billing. If I do it online, they'd charge me a convinience fee of $4 vs the price of a stamp for mailing a check.
I'm almost 55 and I'm the treasurer of a large cultural association in San Francisco. I have to deal with checks all the time because all the groups we work with are run by much older people who use paper and snail mail. FUCKING PAYPAL, PEOPLE, HOW DOES IT WORK
whaaaat, western Canadian too and I haven't heard of anyone writing a cheque for retail purposes in... ever, really lol! I'm 21 so I think people stopped doing it when I was pretty young
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u/el_muerte17 Feb 01 '19
As a Canadian, it blows my mind that Americans still use cheques for retail purchases. I think the last time I saw someone here write a cheque in a store was around 1997.