About the Author
J. Steven Tucker
J. Steven Tucker is a Certified Public Accountant. He has had his own CPA practice in Winston Salem NC since 1987. His areas of practice include financial planning as well as tax planning. Also, for several years now, he has been trading commodities.
It's a sure sign that fewer and fewer people are writing checks these days. On June 26, 2007, the Federal Reserve Banks announced that beginning in 2008 it will begin closing 14 US check writing centers.
If you stop to think about it, how many checks do you write these days? With online bill paying available for many of our monthly bills, and debit and credit cards available for making purchases, who needs to write many checks? Plus, many businesses do not accept checks any more anyway.
Federal Reserve statistics clearly show the trend toward much less check writing. The Federal Reserve estimates that it processed or paid $50 billion worth of checks in 1995. By 2001, the number processed was down to $42 billion, and, by 2003, down to $37 billion. That number should continue to significantly decrease over the next few years.
Of course, I would guess that check writing will not become totally extinct. People will be able to write checks in situations where electronic payments are not available.
On a related note, debit cards continue to present their own share of problems. Some debit card companies are putting $50 caps on gasoline purchases at gasoline pumps which means that those who need to put more than $50 worth of gas in their tanks may find the pump suddenly cutting off at the $50 limit. Oh well. Maybe paying with cash is still the simplest way to go after all.
Published by J. Steven Tucker on July 6, 2007 03:37 PM
