Personal checks seem to be used less and less these days. I’m wondering if the only reason many pinheads have and write checks at this point is for Pinball Resource because of Steve Young's policy of only taking checks for payment. I still write checks on occasion for other reasons, but is that the case for you?
Quoted from John-Floyd:I go old school and still pay some utility bills with checks.
I did up until recently when I switched over to using my CC for points online. Luckily they are quick "guest payments" becasue when logging in was a real chore with some of them.
I have PBR set up as a payee with my bank, so I just go online and click a couple things and the bank sends a check. I'm at zero check writing, assuming you don't count this workaround.
I work in the check printing industry. "Check decline" as we call it is a real thing. Approximately 7% per year averaged across personal and business checks. My plant prints business checks and deposits so we see a lot less of a decline. Our company used to have several plants printing business checks. We are the only plant left that prints exclusively business checks.
I might write a couple a year for things other than PBR, but yeah, PBR checks far surpass any other kinds of checks. Everything else is online these days.
I'm just one of those old timers that get checks sent to me and i send them out. Still get the paper check statements from the bank. Even fuss with the bank some times when i run out of deposit slips. They don't even print the account number on them have to just fill in the little boxes. 
I still write and cash checks a bit. Once a month for the rent. I'll take check payment on a pinball machine if I know somebody.
The bank is a block away from me I guess that helps.
There is this great burger and beer joint near my house that only accepts cash. It’s not widely known that they’ll also take a local check.
When my wife and I go eat there I stick one check in my wallet before we leave the house.. When it’s time to pay the bill I whip out the check and fill it out. I can always feel the eyes of stunned Millennials while I pay. No waiting for change, no hunting for an ATM, it’s always a very satisfying transaction.
Cash is a bit of a strange concept here too. While you can use cash here, it’s very strange. No need for cash or finding an ATM. A debit card (being essentially an ATM card) has been the major form of payment for at least 35 years, and everyone takes it from a taxi to a plumber, to the biggest retailer you can get. Seconds to pay for anything, without the need for cash or checks.
Quoted from Elicash:There is this great burger and beer joint near my house that only accepts cash. It’s not widely known that they’ll also take a local check.
When my wife and I go eat there I stick one check in my wallet before we leave the house.. When it’s time to pay the bill I whip out the check and fill it out. I can always feel the eyes of stunned Millennials while I pay. No waiting for change, no hunting for an ATM, it’s always a very satisfying transaction.
I've seen my dad white checks, but that was at least 25 years ago. I've never written one myself and I'm in the mid 40s.
At least here in Sweden the usage of checks are a thing of the past, everyone using some variant of digital transfer (or cash).
Quoted from John-Floyd:I go old school and still pay some utility bills with checks.
All but two of my utilities I pay via check.
A couple lesser costly ones I sometimes add extra payment ..
Quoted from Zanado:I do find the use of checks amusing at times - it’s a very American thing these days. Most of the rest of the world got rid of them a long long time ago. It’s been perhaps 15 years or more since I last used one.
By the rest of the world do you mean Australia?
Most banks offer the service of writing and issuing the check for you and you can even tell them when to send it and deliver it by. So it is old school with modern technology.
Quoted from pinballcorpse:Most banks offer the service of writing and issuing the check for you and you can even tell them when to send it and deliver it by. So it is old school with modern technology.
Yup, that's built right in to my bank's standard "bill pay" system. If the company/person doesn't accept electronic payments it sends a physical check. That being said, I only send "real" checks to PBR because I don't want to screw up. Other than PBR I write checks for property tax, that's about it. I'm too cheap to pay the couple bucks online payment fee. 
Quoted from chad:All but two of my utilities I pay via check.
A couple lesser costly ones I sometimes add extra payment ..
I sit down once a month and do a run of checks for bills, the only time I write checks.
Quoted from nicoy3k:By the rest of the world do you mean Australia?
No, he means all countries except US of checks.
I just wrote out a check to a pinball parts supplier. It might have been written out to him personally instead of his company....then again....it might not have been.
I pay most of my bills with checks, I never liked the idea of things going on auto pay, me forgetting about it and companies slipping things by.
Quoted from wisefwumyogwave:I pay most of my bills with checks, I never liked the idea of things going on auto pay, me forgetting about it and companies slipping things by.
You can pay electronically without having to do auto pay.
Quoted from ForceFlow:You can pay electronically without having to do auto pay.
I'm sure, but to further elaborate, I lose the physical reminder of it coming in the mail.
Quoted from wisefwumyogwave:I'm sure, but to further elaborate, I lose the physical reminder of it coming in the mail.
I still receive physical bills in the mail, but pay them electronically through my bank. For the places that the bank has a "relationship" with, they pay the vendor electronically. For other places, like PBR, they send out a physical check. Seems like it is the best of all worlds for me.
I do still write the occasional check, but it's probably only 3 or 4 times in a year.
Quoted from nicoy3k:By the rest of the world do you mean Australia?
That’s how wars have started - that’s definitely not the Australian flag there. No outside of the US, checks (or cheques) are a rare thing. Some countries might have them for elderly people to use, others they can no longer be used at all. Canadians use them a bit still I think. If I can pay everywhere using electronic means, and if I can send money in real-time to any bank account in the country, there’s no need for checks.
In Australia, since you mentioned it, you can still use a check. It’s just very very rare. Here it’s not possible to use checks at all.
Quoted from Vino:I initially thought ..writing a check for PBR?
Of course, what everybody probably thought was Professional Bull Riders…
97B3CC66-EEA8-46C5-89F1-3CDCFFBE1BA6 (resized).pngQuoted from cp1610:I'm just one of those old timers that get checks sent to me and i send them out. Still get the paper check statements from the bank. Even fuss with the bank some times when i run out of deposit slips. They don't even print the account number on them have to just fill in the little boxes.
It's been awhile since I've left you a check.
I like to keep one handy, that way when someone behind me in line is being an A-hole I can really make their day.
I like to write checks at the grocery store but only when the line is super long and everyone looks impatient!
Quoted from jackd104:Some tradespeople still ask for checks, at least in my area.
As a piano tuner for nearly 20 years, I’ve always accepted only cash or check for payment. (I’d probably make an exception if a customer offered to pay with a pinball machine. 
)
Quoted from wolverinetuner:(I’d probably make an exception if a customer offered to pay with a pinball machine. )
That would be one expensive tune!
Quoted from metallik:Paid for my Halloween with a check. Not paying extra fees on a transaction that big.
Its kind of funny, I have been writing more checks in recent times rather than less. I did a bunch of home construction projects and the contractors like checks better than credit cards because of the high credit card fees. Sometimes you even get an invoice which has 2 options, with a 5-7% upcharge if you pay with credit card versus a check.
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