Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: Check Supply – Send Checks in the Mail

check.supply

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 109 posts

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

#61

Post by dylan604 »

bigstrat2003 wrote: post #18
4ndrewl wrote: post #7

How common is check usage in the USA? Is it a daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly thing?

I would say approximately quarterly for me, maybe yearly. Some people only want a check, and also checks Just Work in a way that digital payments don't. Like, I can't use Venmo because they absolutely refuse to verify my bank account, so for anyone who takes Venmo or a check it means I need to pay them by check. It's uncommon, but common enough that it's still a basic part of being a functional adult.

Also, the apps have limits. There have been times where someone was giving me a value larger than the apps would allow due to daily limits, and was going to force multiple transactions at the max amount. Or, they could write a check, and the full deposit could be made.

At the end of the day, if someone is trying to give you money using a valid form of payment, why would you not accept it. Driving to the bank to make a deposit (again, value too high for app check deposit) is a minor deviation to my day, but am I going to say no because of that. Some people are just weird with their protests to checks.

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

#62

Post by gruez »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #42

I’m curious, what’s an example of a “neo bank” that you say doesn’t offer bill pay? I’m sure they exist, just wondering who they are. Bill pay sends a bank check which is covered by the immediate withdrawal of funds from the customer’s account. In most cases, the customer would be fine with that or even prefer it, to ensure they don’t accidentally bounce a check. However, I’m wondering if another customer base can be…

>However, I’m wondering if another customer base can be someone who has bank bill pay but wants to float the funds until the check is cashed. Maybe they don’t have the actual funds yet but want to write a check against funds they expect to have soon (risky but people do it).

>Do you restrict writing checks that are for an amount greater than the current account balance?

There's no reason to. You can already write a check for more than your account balance. The service also generates the checks using your account number, so they're not taking on any credit risk in case your account is overdrawn.

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

#63

Post by function_seven »

bigstrat2003 wrote: post #9

If you can find customers more power to you I guess, but I just can't see the use case here. Having a checkbook, envelopes and stamps is a basic part of being a functional adult. It's not hard or expensive to do, so why on earth would anyone want to pay you to handle basic adulting for them?

I haven't had a checkbook in 5 years. I did have one for the 25 years before that. But then nobody wanted a check from me anymore, so I decided not to spend the money on a box of checks when I moved.

I have one person I need to pay each month with a check. They get it mailed to them from my credit union's bill pay service. Anyone else can either accept cash, ApplePay, Zelle, or a card.

This to me seems similar to the app I use to fax things. It costs $1 a page I think? And is totally worth it for the one time I need to fax a document every five years or so.

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

#64

Post by j0hnjjun9 »

apsurd wrote: post #53

I join my dad occasionally to watch the lakers games on tv. Recently he had his bills set up and was writing checks and placing them in envelopes. I remembered specifically helping him resolve a bill pay issue for one of his payments so I asked why doesn't he use bill pay for all of them? He says he likes practicing writing, the physical nature, and the routine of intaking these bills and mailing them out. he's retir…

What we found was bill pay is a lot slower and doesn’t give you any indication of if and when the check is cashed because they deduct that amount on the day you send.

So that might be another reason your dad might be doing this.

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

#65

Post by [deleted] »

lxgr wrote: post #44

It's still baffling to me that the US, unlike most other countries, have never developed "push" bank/credit transfers. Checks might have been useful historically, but I really can't think of any use case these days where I'd prefer writing a check over just instructing my bank to pay somebody directly, which has the huge advantage of being more secure (my bank and I can agree on any security measures we like, vs. hav…

[deleted]

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

#66

Post by j0hnjjun9 »

mikeryan wrote: post #3

Not to rain on your parade, but my Chase app already has this ability. Don’t other banks as well? Whats the upside of this option?

Have you ever lost a bill pay check or have someone follow up and say they didn’t receive it?

With BillPay, they deduct the amount you pay on the day of, the banks take their sweet time to send the check because they want to slow down the money.

If you lose the check, it’s a lot more overhead to cancel and get your money back.

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

#67

Post by [deleted] »

BeetleB wrote: post #52

$6.99 per check? That's expensive! I have envelopes. I have stamps. And I have a checkbook. The only thing this is saving me is the (minor) physical labor? Not worth $6.99 per month. More for the times I have to write checks for other things (e.g. paying contractors). Besides, when I bought my house I bought one of those 300 address label sticker thingies. How else am I going to use those?!

[deleted]

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

#68

Post by lxgr »

deathanatos wrote: post #57
lxgr wrote: post #44

It's still baffling to me that the US, unlike most other countries, have never developed "push" bank/credit transfers. Checks might have been useful historically, but I really can't think of any use case these days where I'd prefer writing a check over just instructing my bank to pay somebody directly, which has the huge advantage of being more secure (my bank and I can agree on any security measures we like, vs. hav…

> It's still baffling to me that the US, unlike most other countries, have never developed "push" bank/credit transfers. My (US) bank has this functionality. It's a real pain to set up, and most people I know will prefer Venmo/Paypal, or god help me Zello, before a bank-to-bank transfer. > my bank and I can agree on any security measures we like Well … so it's more like my bank and I can agree on any security measure…

> Well … so it's more like my bank and I can agree on any security measures the bank likes.

Yes, I'm unfortunately very aware of the incredible market failure in the US in that regard.

There's a much bigger variety of means of initiating bank transfers in Europe, probably simply because push bank transfers are a thing in the first place (the security of which banks are often liable for).

Looking at the dumpster fire that is Zelle, US banks apparently just don't seem to want to cannibalize their profitable debit/credit card business with a cheap, fast, and secure payment method.

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

#69

Post by [deleted] »

apsurd wrote: post #53

I join my dad occasionally to watch the lakers games on tv. Recently he had his bills set up and was writing checks and placing them in envelopes. I remembered specifically helping him resolve a bill pay issue for one of his payments so I asked why doesn't he use bill pay for all of them? He says he likes practicing writing, the physical nature, and the routine of intaking these bills and mailing them out. he's retir…

[deleted]
Post reply on HN