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Comment by pjerem | Hacker News Reader

> “If it’s your paycheck and you are waiting for it, it matters a lot”

Is this a bad example or are paychecks a normal thing in US ? If yes, are they sent by mail ? I'm just curious about how this works.

Every time I read an article about money in the US, I have the feeling that a lot of money transaction (paycheck, paying your bills ...) is done by paper/mail. I'm surprised each time I read this since I never had to think about paying my bills or receiving my pay on my account.

I'm not even sure my parents ever get paid by check (like, with some sort of paper that you have to give to your bank) but here, maybe I'm wrong. And I know it can sometimes happen here for short contracts to get paid by check, but even in this use case, it's pretty rare.

If I'm right, is this more a cultural thing or some sort of technical limitation ?

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While some number north of 90% of working Americans use some form of Direct Deposit to get paid, in the the US, we still use paper checks for things. For me, personally, I pay all bills I can online. There are still three things I need to write checks for, they have no online payment option at all. I pay those online through a service my bank offers, but my bank turns around and sends a paper check. Not all consumers use online bill pay services, a lot of people still get paper bills and send paper checks in response.

On top of this, something like 5-6% of Americans households don't have a bank account at all. The ones that do get paid by a steady income in this category expect to get a paycheck and cash it at a bank or check cashing service (generally with a fee).

It's a metaphorical example. Even when I received a physical paycheck years ago, it wasn't typically done in the mail.

Personally, I'm more worried as a consumer that legal notice delivery is unreliable. My storage unit (Public Storage) jacked my rent up by over 20% without notice. They claim they mailed notice, and the lease specifically has a provision that there is a presumption of delivery when things are posted via first class mail.

When I worked at the YMCA, I remember receiving my first paycheck in the mail. This was because my bank account wasn’t all the way into their system for direct deposit yet. I’m willing to bet for many places of employment, a physical paycheck is also the default. 6.5% of Americans don’t have a bank account, so they can’t do direct deposit at all. There is a good number of people who have always received a physical paycheck who haven’t gone through the process of direct deposit, such as my grandparents.

https://apnews.com/article/8b2b93d4e9474c418853e0f20e79aaa8

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/01/10/576879734/epis...

A lot of smaller employers will still do paper checks, not sure if it's because of the cost associated with having a direct deposit system. But also, a subset of people do not trust banks or are unable to have direct deposits. They usually use those check-cashing shops who give out cash for a % fee.

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