I'm sorry, this is not a point at which you can refuse

[king4aday]

Our store uses the phone number as another form of identity as Ive been told. When our check checker (the company that verifys checks are able to be taken...dont know what else to call them) uses the phone number on the check and verifies it against information it has from that account to help verify identity. Ive had people hand me a check and refuse to give me their phone number, wherin I hand them back their check and simply state "then I will need another form of payment please." Our system will not run a check unless you have a phone number, and it will not accept a check if the phone number doesnt match the checking account.

[chops]

Until recently, I've always had my phone number on my checks. For some odd reason, my current credit union decided not to do so when they sent me my first box.

Convenience Store Hell™ always required phone numbers on checks, or the use of their courtesy card (which our manager never enforced because he knew everybody). My theory: your bank may have your phone number, but if a check gets bounced, all you see is what's on the check. You're still out that money if you have no other means of recovering the amount of the check, and you otherwise have to deal with the customer directly.

I wish paper checks could die a thousand deaths, but too many places make it darned near impossible to use anything else.

I'm in a weird situation where my credit union is back in Virginia, where I opened the account. If I want cash, writing a check and bringing it to a local bank at which I have an account is a free way of getting cash from my CU's checking account. Otherwise, I could use my PIN at a store (for 25¢) or use my ATM card ($1 plus whatever the ATM charges). Since the bank is right around the corner from where I work (literally), that's the most obvious choice.

[donruss]

People still use checks???

[Eric the Grey]

it's security for the store, not the check writer... it's the same reason that hotels get a phone number, so if the money doesn't clear they have a way to track you down to collect...

this is why I use plastic for everything except my home owners fees (there is no way in HELL I'm paying a $20 "convenience" charge on a $140 payment) and certain utilities (same thing, not paying a convenience charge for a method that actually costs the company less to process).

Quite frankly, that's nothing more than gouging the customers. I know that businesses do pay a fee to accept credit cards, usually a small percentage of the sale, but I cannot believe it's that high.

I will even accept a $1-2 fee for the convenience of paying online, or with a credit card, but that is going overboard.

Me, I print my own checks at home, so my phone number is on them by choice, and my address is always correct, because I can change it at the drop of a hat. The unfortunate part of that is that you have to buy special ink to make them scannable at the stores, and some don't accept checks that won't go through their scanners.

Frankly, the only thing I still use checks for are a few bills that I usually hand-deliver since the businesses are all right along my normal drive to and from work or school.

I too will be glad when checks go away.


Eric the Grey