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Show HN: Check Supply – Send Checks in the Mail

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Re: Show HN: Check Supply – Send Checks in the Mail

#101

Post by aidenn0 »

ryandrake wrote: post #76
pavel_lishin wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really depends. I think we have to write one maybe every other month? We own a house, and a lot of contractors (plumbers, electricians, etc) will accept cash or check - and while paying $300 cash for a plumbing job is easy, it's more difficult to get $7500 in cash out of the bank to pay for a heavier renovation project. If you rent, you'll often have to send a check off monthly. I don't remember the last time I've ma…

> and while paying $300 cash for a plumbing job is easy, it's more difficult to get $7500 in cash out of the bank to pay for a heavier renovation project. Inflation makes this worse, too. I used to keep a handful of $100s in my wallet to pay for little odds and ends like a plumber or someone hauling trash to the dump. If I wanted to keep doing that, my wallet would have to fit a whole stack of them. The highest denom…

On top of that, $100s are useless at the many stores who refuse to take them, despite being worth only a little more than a $20 was the year I was born.

Re: Show HN: Check Supply – Send Checks in the Mail

#102

Post by meatmanek »

RhysU wrote: post #98
unsnap_biceps wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My bank does not take the money out before it's cashed by the receiver

Seconded. Any bank that does is not a bank I would use.

I've had landlords who would deposit checks with inconsistent timing -- sometimes several weeks after they received the check.

This results in a situation where the amount of money you have available to spend might be $rent lower than you actually think, unless you've determined whether the landlord has cashed the check or not. When I was the one writing the checks for an apartment I shared with my also-just-out-of-college roommates, that check was pretty big, often >50% of the value of my checking account.

While I'd appreciate the extra interest that I'd earn on that money sitting around for an extra few weeks, I'd rather have the certainty of knowing how much money I actually had.

(If the bank could show an effective balance, where the check is shown as a pending transaction, I suppose that would be fine too.)

Re: Show HN: Check Supply – Send Checks in the Mail

#103

Post by anonymousiam »

Many people have elected to allow direct debit access to their bank accounts for routing bill payments. I've never felt comfortable with the associated risks ever since NACHA relaxed the prenotification requirements. Fortunately my banking institutions still offer a bill payment service that provides some isolation by issuing drafts and/or EFTs from an intermediate account.

If somebody compromises your data and an unauthorized debit occurs, you'll have 60 days to detect and report the fraud for personal accounts. Business accounts have only 24 hours to detect and report the fraud.

If you make the report after the time limit expires, your bank has no responsibility to recover your funds.

https://firstbusiness.bank/resource-center/managing-payment-...

https://www.nacha.org/rules/minor-rules-topics-2

Re: Show HN: Check Supply – Send Checks in the Mail

#105

Post by api_or_ipa »

> I didn't want to buy a checkbook, stamps, and envelopes just for this one bill.

How much is a checkbook? My bank (FRB, RIP :( ) gave me, for free, like 8 years ago, an enormous box of checks that I have hardly made a dent in.

Domestic postage is like $0.69, envelopes are, what, couple bucks for a box of 50? Amortized over a couple years, you aren’t looking at more than a dollar or two/month.

Either send a bunch of post dated checks at once or set a calendar reminder to send a new one each month. Either way, I don’t really see a market here

Re: Show HN: Check Supply – Send Checks in the Mail

#107

Post by RhysU »

meatmanek wrote: post #102
RhysU wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seconded. Any bank that does is not a bank I would use.

I've had landlords who would deposit checks with inconsistent timing -- sometimes several weeks after they received the check. This results in a situation where the amount of money you have available to spend might be $rent lower than you actually think, unless you've determined whether the landlord has cashed the check or not. When I was the one writing the checks for an apartment I shared with my also-just-out-of-c…

That's why one records the check amount in a ledger kept electronically or physically with the checkbook. You will then always know what you have even if the pesky landlord waits 3 months to cash a check. It's old school but works flawlessly for one person.

(Dunno if banking apps have the ability to record written checks then automatically reconcile when those checks clear. It'd be a nice banking app feature but would reduce revenue obtained from overdraft fees, on which banks gorge.)

For a couple, one needs the has-the-checkbook? mutex to write new checks. Each spouse having a credit card paid down monthly reduces the mutex contention for negative cost (considering float and rewards, ignoring credit-only prices).

Supposing the above fails from time-to-time, there's a defense in depth approach: If you write those checks from a margin-enabled brokerage account, anytime you make a mistake you self-fund the overdraft. This can be useful if the checks you write in a month are small relative to your margin collateral. This can also be useful if one occasionally needs to write a check for larger, one-off purchases where it'll take a few days to move the money around to satisfy the check. This is conceptually nice because a negative checkbook balance stops being haltingly terrifying if you know a regular paycheck will land before some checks clear. Do not trigger margin calls on yourself!

Re: Show HN: Check Supply – Send Checks in the Mail

#108

Post by pintxo »

miki123211 wrote: post #83
lxgr wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even long before banking became digital, most European countries had an efficient bank transfer system in place in parallel to checks. Both have their advantages, and I accordingly find it baffling that the US only got one, but not the other, and even more baffling that this has largely survived the transition to digital transfers (consumers usually can't initiate ACH credit transfers to third parties directly).

Meanwhile, most European countries are now left with nothing but a bank transfer system. This is mostly fine, but the ability to essentially give somebody cash in-person without actually having the cash would come in handy sometimes. I know checks can bounce, but I always feel a bit uneasy when I tell people "hey I just send you a transfer I promise, it's friday so it'll probably arrive after the weekend, here's the…

For Germany, you can get a check secured by the central bank. It is costly, but that check is as good as cash. It cannot bounce.

But it’s really only used for things like real estate auctions where the buyer needs to pay 10% or so on the spot.

Re: Show HN: Check Supply – Send Checks in the Mail

#109

Post by sneak »

repiret wrote: post #96
pfista wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why does it need to be connected to your bank at all? It just needs the account, routing, and check numbers. To prevent fraud

There are numerous outfits that you can go to online to order blank checks. And of the small number that I have used, all of them let me just type in my routing number and account number and other information that appears printed on the check. Your use of Plaid would exclude me from your service for two reasons: 1: I bank at a small regional credit union that is almost impossible to get linked with Plaid. 2: Plaid hy…

I don’t think they mean it prevents fraud in general, I think they mean it prevents fraud on their service specifically.
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