The death of paper checks: a sentimental or historical read

One book of 20 paper checks now lasts me about a year. At one time, I blew through them at a rate for a book a month or more. How we pay and receive moola has certainly changed.

According to this morning’s newspaper, Target stores will no longer accept personal checks. Cash or card (or, I suppose, shoplifting) are the customer’s only options. I am glad to see that because usually the person ahead of me in the checkout lane is some old fart paying by check, carefully inscribing the date, pay to, numerical amount, written amount, description, and signature after a long search in their handbag for the checkbook itself. Me, I hand’m my debit card, collect my receipt, and, whoosh, I am headin’ for the parking lot.

I started using checks as a teenager back in the 1960s (I add the century since some people may think I am referring to the 1860s). Those were the days when one could simply reach for a blank check at the gas station counter. I don’t remember having checks with my name and address printed on them at the time. Checks were handy when it was close to payday and you needed gas. If you were careful, you could “float” a check knowing it would take a couple days to clear. If you were overdrawn, the penalty was like three bucks. 

As I became a more responsible adult, I started carrying my own checkbook, carefully recording each check - date, number, payee, and amount - and calculating the running amount remaining. Each month I would receive a statement from my bank, showing which checks and deposits had cleared and I could check my balance against what my checkbook showed. Easy peasy. My paychecks were actually physical checks, doled out each Friday afternoon. 

Of course in the bad old days, 90% of transactions were in cash - gas, groceries, clothes… Checks were written to pay the rent, car loan, and utilities. When writing a check, you could always ask to write it for ten bucks over the amount and get some cash back. 

Today? Hmmmm, I have finally started using my debit card to pay for even small purchases. The hundred smackers I get out of my ATM machine lasts a month, if not two. I use the tap feature on my cards so I don’t have to struggle finding the dark, hidden slot of the credit card reader. I suspect I will soon be simply paying using an app on my phone. (Are there already younger people standing in line behind me cursing that I take so long when using a card instead of my phone?) 

I can log on to my bank accounts - savings, checking, credit card - from my home office (my recliner) any time, as often as I wish. All my regular bills are automatically paid online as are my monthly donations to charities, club dues, and such. My children and grandchildren no longer get birthday checks from me, but Amazon e-gift cards or pre-paid VISA cards. I get an email each time my credit card or debit card is used to make a payment over a certain amount. When I get the rare paper check in the mail, I endorse it, take a photo of it with my phone, deposit the digital image, and tear up the paper copy.

So, Target, congratulations for keeping up with the times. Do, please, let me use my little plastic cards to pay until I figure out the banking app on my phone. I know that I am a grudging late adopter…