It’s easy to think of checks made of paper as being a thing of the past, but there are payment options that can be made digitally such as Venmo, Zelle, and Apple Pay, but there are some situations where it’s better to utilize them. This is when it might be more secure or beneficial to utilize a personal or paper check, the best way to use checks in a safe manner, and when it’s okay to not use them.
You might want to make an advance check in one of the following scenarios:
- Shop at a small-scale business
- Giving money as a gift
- Tracing important payments
- Secure your identity
- Shopping at a Small Business
Because of their size and credit card processing costs, some small companies don’t take credit cards. A study revealed that only 27% of small-scale businesses prefer electronic payments (think ApplePay or credit card) ApplePay) over traditional payments (cash or checks, as well as money orders). If you employ someone to cut your lawn, buy items at a local shop and flea market seller, or even employ a dog walker, you might need to keep a cashier’s check in your wallet to pay the bill.
Gifting Money
If you’re in a hurry and you’re planning an event like a birthday celebration, wedding, or another special event in your family it’s likely that you’ll need to put cash into a credit card. However, if you’re giving money as an offer, checks could be more appropriate than cash. Although both checks and cash are easily lost when you are rushing to open presents, one is specifically addressed to the recipient and the other isn’t. This will help the person receiving it to remember who gifted them the cash. If they put the cash to the side and then return it later, they might not recall who gave the money to them. If you, on the other hand, give them one of your sports checks that you had personalized just for you, there is no way they would forget who gave it to them.
The gift of money through checks could be a good way to encourage recipients to put the money away rather than spend them immediately. You’ll need to go to an institution or use an app on their mobile to cash or deposit it in, which could take some effort.
Tracing Important Payments
If you are making a major payment, such as the down payment for the purchase of a house, a college tuition fee or a deposit to the location for a wedding, or even making a payment to a government agency like the IRS You may need to make a check-in paper.
This will help you ensure that your payment was accepted because you’ll know the date that the other party deposits or cashes the check on the next statement from your bank or via your bank’s online portal. Some banks may even provide you with an image of the check that was cashed to ensure that it’s accurate.
This could even prevent the payment of charges for late payments since the transactions will be all dated. If your check gets stolen or lost You can ask to make the payment void by calling the bank’s customer service line or online through the bank’s website. If you want to make a stop payment on the check, you’ll have chosen “stop payment” in the “stop payment” option via the online portal of your bank. However, you must do this before the check is cashed.
It is also possible to enter your account number, the check’s number as well as the amount that the check is. Be aware that you’ll likely need to pay a fee in order to stop the check. The fees will vary from bank to bank, however, you may end up paying about 30 dollars to stop the checks, and some banks might be charged more.
If You’ve Been the Victim of Fraud
Have the financial details that are sensitive to you been stolen or compromised? It’s not a problem for everyone. A study revealed that in the year 2018, 14.4 million people in the U.S. were victims of identity fraud, to the tune of $3.4 billion of losses. And, even more troubling, the same study revealed that more victims had to pay out of their own pockets to pay for the costs of the fraud.3 Based on these figures it’s only natural to be keen to keep your data safe if you’ve dealt with similar issues.
A lot of people return to using cash or checks made of paper instead of using debit or credit cards at local stores. They might also choose not to input their payment details on retail websites online or utilize online and digital payment options.
While writing a check on paper isn’t a foolproof method to protect your personal information, keeping it off the internet and using your credit card less could reduce the risk that you are a victim of fraud, identity theft, and other financial criminals.