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Comment by miohtama | Hacker News Reader

“Checks were not cashed in a timely manner or just lost altogether” only in the US of A, or movies from 70s, something like this.

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To be fair, my mother is in a protracted situation with one of Europe's largest banks and the UK government's savings scheme. She made a transfer of a sum of money to the savings scheme but the bank refused for various reasons, yet the savings scheme acted as if they had received it. She now has the lump sum in both the bank account and the savings scheme with both of them claiming everything is fine and refusing to investigate further unless she files an official complaint at having 2x the money(!)

If a global bank and the UK government can't figure this stuff out, I can certainly see how a company like Fisker might drop the ball.

OP was commenting on the use of cheques, which is comical in the rest of the world. Banking errors can happen anywhere.

Yep. I remember having a chequebook. Pretty sure it was around the mid 1990s. I don't remember ever using one, or ever renewing the chequebook. I don't think I've seen an actual paper cheque since the job I quit in 1998.

(I'm from Australia.)

Guess she should close the savings account and see how much they send her?

"Bank error in your favor. Collect $200."

An extremely accurate way to describe it. $200 back when Monopoly was made is equivalent to ~$4500 USD.

Heh. Couple months ago my mortgage company applied a payment to two consecutive months, also paid by paper check. Maybe check processing skills are getting lost from the workforce.

I am now trying to set up direct deposit in an investment account I own. Despite being able to buy and sell online in that account, to enable direct deposit I need to mail them a paper form, with notarized signature, and include a voided blank check. I have not written a paper check in years and I'm not even sure I have any.

Most banks will print a sheet of 3 on demand at a branch. I think they're called counter checks? I haven't used a checkbook in probably about a decade, so when they've been needed for some reason, I just get those.

Truly. I had no idea anyone was still using cheques in 2024. Why weren't they simply doing bank transfers? I don't know if you even could buy a car with a cheque in Australia.

In fact we're ending the cheque system entirely in the next few years. I'm 34 and have never written a cheque, and only received about 4 - none of which were in the last 5 years.

You can get a Bank Cheque!

I've purchased a car privately this way.

Although, very sensibly, the seller met us at his bank and paid the Cheque in to his account whilst we were there. Fake Bank Cheques are a thing.

I havent used a Cheque Book since the late 1990s. We used to order take-away food in London and then pay with a Cheque and Cheque Guarantee Card when the driver got to the door!

Which of course meant you could buy food on a Friday if you had no money and didnt get paid until Monday! LOL :-)

The original BNPL Scheme! ;-)

But yes, I dont think they issue Cheque Books here in AU anymore. And if they did, what would you even do with one!

Can you imagine trying to pay in a shop with one!

> You can get a Bank Cheque!

> I've purchased a car privately this way.

I've done that, for a motorcycle. It was in 1999. I've bought a dozen or so vehicles since, all paid either in cash (for inexpensive ones) or bank transfer (anything over about $10,000). I'm also in AU.

To shed some light on why Americans kept checks for so long: I'm 33 and have never done a bank transfer. I can't even say what the flaws in our system are, because I grew up in a family where it was never considered as an option: money was sent as cash or checks only.

I moved Finland 30 years ago. Checks for private customers did no longer exist at that time. (Checks for businesses reportedly still existed a couple of years.)

Since the pandemic started I have not carried a wallet (paying cash was seen as some kind anti-social behavior with high risk to infect someone) There are zero places where I would need cash. An increasing number of places does not accept cash.

For some ten years we have had international account numbers (IBAN). Transfers inside the Euro zone cost nothing (included in every basic account package) and take one banking day.

Nowadays there are several transfer apps where the transfer takes seconds or less. I am not using those because I run a Google-free Android and have root on my phone.

I have some extra good news for you: https://www.brusselstimes.com/916540/10-second-transactions-...

Moving money using IBAN and home banking is genuinely insanely easy at this point inside the EU

An American mind cannot comprehend what you just said.

It is very convenient to send money online, but through banks it is expensive and if you use payment systems, study the question very carefully. i once got to a service that said that the transfer is free, but in the end I was charged a crazy hidden commission, so i now do not experiment and work through Arbonum for 3 years already.

I'm 43, and I don't even know how to do a bank transfer. Sounds amazing. I don't like checks at all. If I don't mind paying a fee, I'll use one of the apps. But for moving money around, checks are all I know. I don't think I'm that unusual in the USA.

I'm in Australia. All the major and I'm pretty sure all or almost all of the minor banks and bank-like businesses (Building Societies and Credit Unions here) use a thing called PayID. I can send almost everybody I know money just by using their mobile phone number or email address, and the transfer happens from my account to theirs literally in seconds. I can also send money to anybody's BSB/Account Number, and that happens pretty much overnight. Writing a check feels like an archaic thing my parents used to do, like dialling a rotary telephone or sending a fax. I'm pretty sure if someone offered me payment by check, I'd turn it down assuming it's a scam. (I'm 56, for comparison)

BSB and account transfers are also largely instant. New and large transfers may take overnight.

Also, you missed an important part: zero fees.

It’s amazing how different the customs can be.

I’ve only received a check once in my life, in 2004 from a US company. I could not cash it with my regular (online) bank in Poland. I had to open a foreign currency account with the national bank, just for this check, and go to their special customer service department in person, at their HQ. It was like bringing them an alien artifact.

Hah. Once I had to get a wire transfer from a foreign company for some consulting work. I had to open up a new bank account just for that. It's like a mirror image.

use Arbonum, it does not take any hidden commissions, but immediately shows how much the commission will be. Usually from 3%.

It's also fast, easy to understand and the technical support works 24/7

I'm an American. A business I own pays for utilities (internet, gas, water, electric, garbage, sewer), workers comp, credit card bills, service people (electrician, carpenter, accountant), income taxes, and insurance by check. At home I also pay my personal utilities, credit card, service people, some medical, income taxes, and insurance by check. In-person over-the-counter purchases are paid by credit card.

> Truly. I had no idea anyone was still using cheques in 2024.

Pretty much nobody uses cheques anymore.

However, checks are alive and well.

I sometimes advise small and midsize businesses that are having financial problems. Most of them have this exact issue: accounts receivable are a mess. Often, it's because they try outsourcing it to their accountant, who means well but doesn't quite understand that trading money for services/products is the core function of most businesses. Often, instead of buying billing/POS software that fits the business, the accountant has everything being billed out of quick books, and no one but accounting has access to it.

* Sales can't price products accurately and quickly and eventually get frustrated with being stuck with quota pressure and no way to sell the product. Eventually, they start doing bad deals.

* Cash and payment handling is not disciplined. So think PCI nightmare and easily pilfered cash and checks.

* Eventually, the issue becomes, "Where did all the money go?"

This problem is usually really easy to fix as long as the financial problems haven't turned malignant.

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