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Comment by carlosjobim | Hacker News Reader

Do people write cheques in the UK?

I’m in my early 30s and I don’t think I’ve ever written one. When I had my first bank account when I was maybe 10 I was given a cheque book, I don’t know where I’d get one now. I did recently receive a cheque for $12.99 or something like that from an Amazon settlement that I think is probably legitimate. Apparently Monzo can cash a cheque through their app so I’ll try that at some point. I’m guessing it won’t work with an international one though.

> when I was maybe 10 I was given a cheque book, I don’t know where I’d get one now.

I'm guessing you'd walk into your bank and ask for one. You can probably order one from their app somewhere.

I’m older (not in UK, in EU) and cheques are something weird from old movies. Never seen one in real life and concept is really strange.

A couple of years ago during lockdown, I was working with someone definitely qualifying as a boomer, to start up an e-commerce site for him. He was proudly showing me his ledger book of checks that he had to shell out $200 to receive while declining a debit card. On a couple of occasions, I went with him to get cash by driving to a bank branch, writing a check, and having the teller cash it for him. It took months to convince him that he absolutely needed a debit card when people were constantly asking if they could use Venmo/CashApp/etc to pay for products.

So we're still in a transitional stage where some people are still stuck on using checks.

At least I see them being used less often in stores. Also how on earth was he paying $200 for checks? You can get them for < $15. Here's a book with a fish on it, and a ledger, and a cover for under $25 https://www.checks.com/p/856/wonders-of-the-sea-checks

Check processing I think, not writing them

No, the ~$200 fee was for the book ledger and blank checks. I have no idea what kind of monthly fees the bank was charging for the account. He was also getting raked over the coals on his merchant account to process credit cards because it was deemed a high risk business so most reputable places would not accept the business.

Man, don't get me started. However, business accounts are more expensive than regular accounts. Also, why are you surprised that a bank has found a way to charge more fees?

There are several companies in the UK offering cheque cashing services so I presume somebody there is getting them.

Or checks?

Certainly not spelt (or spelled) like that.

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