It seems as though I stopped writing checks a very long time ago. I use cash, credit cards, even bitcoin. If I really have to pay someone with a check, I use my bank’s bill paying service where they print out a check and mail it.
I don’t approve of the security and privacy practices of the likes of Venmo, PayPal, and Zelle. I’ve had horrible experiences with all of them, and their apps won’t even run on my phone because my phone’s wonderful privacy-respecting operating system GrapheneOS blocks their overly-invasive code.
Here on the island, though, it takes well over a week for a check to get delivered from the bank. I even opened an account with an on-island bank to try to speed the process, but of course they use the same white-labeled big centralized bank back-end as the mainland banks, and it still takes their checks just as long to arrive. So I’m back to writing checks for tradesfolk who do work for me, as I don’t want them to have to wait for their money but the sums are too big for me to keep that kind of cash around.
—2p