Banks

[Fiona1986]

I have no problem using the machines in a bank to withdraw/pay in etc

I can now pay in cheques to my account by using the HSBC phone app.

So can I, now, but RBS only added that functionality in the last six months or so.

I still have a chequebook but I can't remember the last time I actually used it. The last cheque I received was for £2 odds, a refund from SSE... a clear ploy for them to be able to say "we have discharged our duty by refunding payments taken in error" while simultaneously ensuring that tons of recipients won't actually claim the money.

[Hannah]

Thank you, Fiona.

I think in Germany the things you describe are almost always done with direct debit or giro transfer though some of the people in my recorder playing group pay with cash (but with no paperwork). I doubt that a cheque would be accepted as it is so uncommon.
But I agree with you that it might be useful if you can't or don't want to use some way of "direct" bank transfer.

[Moonraker]

I write a cheque more often than never, but less often as rarely. I prefer to pay any one-off bills by BACS.

[Lenoir]

They stopped the use of cheques here about a year ago. I hadn't written one for a while but it was a bit sad to see the end of the era. I think I felt like that because my first job was in a bank and I remember the templates they used in those days to stamp the account no on the cheques. (It's a long time ago, so I stand corrected on how it worked but something like that).

[Katharine]

I'm curious as to how people manage without the use of cheques. Other than the two examples I listed before, I can think of other situations that would benefit from the use of a cheque, ie sending someone some money for a present. I used to send a friend's children a cheque on their birthdays. I stopped once they turned 18, but how would I get money to them now without a cheque, should I want to send them anything? I certainly wouldn't risk sending cash through the post, and they live too far away to deliver it in person. I suppose I could try and find out their bank account number, but as I don't do on-line banking, that wouldn't be much good, and anyway, it seems a bit impersonal just to hit the 'send' button.

Someone did send me some money that way for my birthday last year, but didn't tell me how much, and it seemed rude to ask, so I had to wait for the next bank statement to find out.

The cheque app that someone mentioned early is good that it helps keep the use of cheques going, but unfortunately it sounds like another nail in the coffin for local banks. It wouldn't be any good for someone like me, as my phone is simply a phone, no apps, so I still need to go to somewhere to pay a cheque in.

[Boodi 2]

I have not written or received a cheque for around 20 years! Even at that stage although cheques were still common in Ireland they were rarely used here in Germany. However, I don't really miss them and have managed with direct debit/giro transfer and PayPal. Instead of money in the form of a cheque a very common gift here in Germany (at least among people I know) is a gift voucher, of which I have received several over the years, the most recent being a voucher for a six-course Indian meal for four people. Due to the pandemic I am not keen on going to restaurants at the moment but the voucher is valid until mid-April and apparently all restrictions will be lifted here on March 20th. so I am looking forward to the six-course meal accompanied by my husband, son and his girlfriend.

[Katharine]

So how would you manage in the paying in situation I mentioned earlier? Presumably you'd have to fill in a form every time you wanted to pay in cash? If I were paying a set amount into my savings account on a regular basis, then I would probably set up a standing order, but I'm not in that situation, so I need the flexibility of being able to pay in different amounts of money, as and when I have some to spare.

Gifts cards/vouchers are nice if you know they are definitely for somewhere the person would like, unfortunately we've had a number of cards in the past which have gone to waste as they were for shops we never bought from. One I think was for Mothercare, for £5, and it was virtually impossible to find anything for that amount of money, so we were faced with 'wasting' the £5 we'd been given us, having to fork out another £10 of our own cash to get something that we probably could have got cheaper elsewhere, or spending £5 on something we didn't particularly want/need for the sake of it. Gift cards also don't solve the problem of sending something via the post, as if they fall into the wrong hands, they can be spent by anyone, not just the person it was meant for. At least if a cheque goes missing in the post, another one can be sent to replace it.

[Boodi 2]

I can put cash into my account or withdraw cash using the ATM in the bank without the need to fill in a form. However, I have to fill in a form to transfer funds to other accounts. We have a standing order with the bank for regular payments, which means that we don't need to fill in a form each time.

I agree that there are disadvantages with gift vouchers and one that I received four years ago and never used has probably gone to waste. However, I would feel safer sending a gift voucher by post as I don't think the temptation is as great as is the case with cash, where I have had three negative experiences in the past.

[Jack400]

I donate money each month,or so, to various charities, by cheque. There was a charity that literally begged me to change to direct debit- though I still receive plenty of requests from them- for donations, presumably by cheque! I agree with every word of Katharine's post.

[Katharine]

Thanks for the explanation. I know there are envelopes available for paying in money automatically, but I assumed they would need some kind of information filled in, ie how much cash was being paid in, and in what quantities.

I don't know if a voucher is safer in the post or not. It depends on whether someone searches the post for cash, and ignores gift cards, or if it's someone who just steals a quantity of post, and maybe just discards the gift card. In that case, although they wouldn't have stolen the value as such, they've still deprived the rightful recipient of it, and so wasted someone's money.

On the subject of transactions, I had a hassle trying to pay a utility bill today. There is only one bank where it is free to pay, and our local branch recently closed down, despite always being busy whenever I went in. I tried to pay the last bill at the branch in town, with a debit card, only to be told it was cheque only! Typically I didn't have my cheque book with me. It can also be paid at the local Co-op, but several times when I've gone to pay there, the cashier informs me that they can't take it. I stood my ground this evening though, and politely told the (newish) cashier that I've paid it there several times in the past, so she said she'd try scanning the bar code and see what happened. Sure enough, it beeped to say it accepted it, and I duly paid!

[Katharine]

Thanks Jack, I'm glad I'm not the only person still clinging to the old way of doing things.

[Hannah]

I have not written or received a cheque for around 20 years! Even at that stage although cheques were still common in Ireland they were rarely used here in Germany. However, I don't really miss them and have managed with direct debit/giro transfer and PayPal. Instead of money in the form of a cheque a very common gift here in Germany (at least among people I know) is a gift voucher, ...

I mostly agree with Boodi. I rarely give money to people I don't meet in person anyway but I would probably ask for their bank account number/if they have paypal or use a voucher. I probably wouldn't get a very specific one (except if I know of a shop that person likes especially) but rather one for amazon or a big department store where everyone will find something he/she likes.
My godmother usually sent cash by mail. It never disappeared. I wouldn't use that for amounts of more than maybe 20€ though because of the risk.

Probably most people of my age in Germany don't even know what a cheque is . I remember some traveller's cheques from my childhood (and in one story in a book a stolen cheque played an important role) but without my time in France I would never have seen another one.

I also use ATMs when I want to pay in cash - but that happens very rarely. You don't have to fill in anything at our ATMs. You just put your card inside and then the bills (coins are not accepted) and the machine does the count and gives you a receipt.

For donations I always use some way of online payment - giro transfer, paypal or my credit card.

(I don't mean to say that cheques can't be useful. They certainly can. It's just that they aren't used in Germany and so of course I'll have to use other ways of payment for things where someone in the UK or in France would use a cheque.)

[Fiona1986]

I'm curious as to how people manage without the use of cheques... I don't do on-line banking.

Most of us do online banking so have no use for cheques. My mum's just booked us a holiday for June, so nearer the time she will request our share of the cost. I'll go on my phone and within thirty seconds I'll have sent her what I owe. My mother-in-law puts money in my joint account for Brodie's birthday/holidays/other occasions and I can either withdraw it and let him spend it in a shop or I can buy him something online. Anything left over I transfer to the savings account in his name.

Out of interest I just dug out my chequebook and was surprised to see I've sent 76 cheques from it (though I have probably had it ten years or more). Then I remembered that I frequently mess up writing cheques and have to start again. Once I even sent an unsigned cheque to someone by mistake... The only stub I still have in it is from the last cheque I sent which was last year, it says 'mags' on it, so I am guessing I bought some Enid Blyton magazines, probably from someone on here.

[Katharine]

Oh yes, my society renewal is another cheque I write.

[Boodi 2]

I don't know if a voucher is safer in the post or not. It depends on whether someone searches the post for cash, and ignores gift cards, or if it's someone who just steals a quantity of post, and maybe just discards the gift card. In that case, although they wouldn't have stolen the value as such, they've still deprived the rightful recipient of it, and so wasted someone's money.

Many years ago I heard that the people who sorted the post in the central sorting office in Dublin had a very powerful lamp that enabled them to see through the envelope and as a result letters and cards containing cash were removed and "lost" (i.e. they pocketed the cash and dumped the letter/card).
I don't know how widespread this practice was, but about 15 years ago here in Germany I put a small amount of cash (perhaps 20 or 30 Euro) into an envelope to pay a girl in France who had done some translation work for me. When she did not acknowledge receipt of my letter and payment I asked her about it and to my horror she never received it, which led to a very embarrassing situation. After that I resolved NEVER to send cash by post again, although oddly enough two years ago a client in Sweden sent me cash in the post at Christmas time as a "tip" for my work during the year!!!