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Comment by code_duck | Hacker News Reader

I've never heard of it except as an obscure Paypal competitor. And, it turns out it's essentially the same service as Paypal and is even owned by Paypal, since 2014.

I agree that services like this only serve to fill gaps in antiquated banking systems. From what I understand, in Australia, for instance, people can send money easily for free between bank accounts and do so routinely without 3rd party services - including paying at stores. Circa 2009, a friend from Adelaide rolled eyes that we still used paper checks in the US. We still do.

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I remember checks from the 80s, my mum/dad used to have them. I never owned a check book.

Good for you? Maybe try one sometime: as it turns out, old things are not de facto bad.

if you enjoy keeping a running tally of how much is in your account, and love knowing that what you see when you check your balance at the bank is never up-to-date, checks are great!

man i quit doing that as soon as i could check my balance on the internet and just use a credit/debit card, just make sure you turn off 'overdraft protection' before doing this or you can dig a very deep hole of compound interest.

- signed, an early gen-xer

I use paper checks quite often. A lot of places still don’t take credit cards. Honestly, you don’t need to be a math major or accountant to keep track of how much money you have.

I agree, plus a lot of the best hole in the wall restaurants don't take credit cards.

As a non-American, it surprises me greatly that a restaurant that doesn't take credit cards would happily accept a cheque of all things.

Cards still don't mean your balance is up to date though - did your credit card payment get taken yet, are there any pending transactions? Okay, that's the balance, but what bills are still due to be taken by direct debit, and are there any standing orders?

Using a card isn't some magic solution for someone struggling to manage their personal finances.

Why would old things be bad anyway? That's an IT pop culture myth.

Yes, we're not disagreeing.

I'm a 20-something Australian who is possibly the only 20-something Australian I know who at one point had a chequebook.

The only time I've found cheques useful outside of paying for my rental bond (for which you need a bank cheque anyway) is when I've had to pay for something by posting in a form, and I don't feel like writing down all my credit card details on paper and having them stored rather insecurely.

The only other relatively common uses of cheques I hear of here are using bank cheques to exchange money when privately selling a car. Other than that, cheques are dead. As they should be.

Checks allow float to be used to my advantage.

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