Target to Stop Taking Personal Checks

I think I've seen someone pay by check at a store perhaps once or twice in recent memory. It seems odd to me when I hear employees at my local contract post office station tell customers "No cards for USPS transactions, cash or check only."

R1 That sounds sketchy. Does the contractor not want to pay swipe fees? Do they not have an internet connection?

Maybe they can take cards if they use one of those old sliding card devices with carbon papers.

But will they still take cheques?

I don't shop there anymore because I ended up spending too much money. They aren't as cheap as people think.

yes, online payments are sketchy...

omg...

Growing up in 70s Brooklyn I don’t remember anyone paying by check at the supermarket, and I worked at a few in High School - so seeing it regularly in 80s LA was initially a shock. It always seemed weird, and time consuming, to me.

Who on earth writes a check in a store?

I haven't used checks in about 10 years. Most everything goes through my credit card because I get points and have a debit card as a backup. A couple of times the chip failed on my credit card.

R7 before we got all tech savvy a lot of people did. My mother did back in the 70's and 80's and early 90's. I have a debit card. She never did. But now I don't see why people need them at all. Get a debit card.

R9 I know, my mom did too. But I mean since 2000.....who?

I've seen a few people over the past 10 years write a check at a grocery store.

I don't blame Target. There is a whole background process in taking checks (running them through Chexsystems) which I'm sure costs money. Anybody with a checking account should have access to a debit card.

The only reason to write a check at the point of sale these days is if you are trying to float the check, which doesn't really work well anymore.

I should add that there are people/places who prefer checks I've noticed (contractors) because of credit card fees, but they are really the exception.

I grew up ion NYC in the 1970s-1980s. Personal checks were an accepted method of payment for some, especially at local merchants and groceries. Another close to obsolete activity is cashing your paycheck at your local grocery store. I have to assume the grocery customer service person probably had a list of employers who who were deemed as acceptable to cash paychecks for with proper ID.

r7 Writing a check in a store, restaurant, or whatever was formerly quite common. Now it's rare, but still done. What is time-consuming is when check-writers don't prepare the check in advance as far as possible at home, but wait to practice their penmanship until the moment of paying is upon them (oh, the purse-diggers! oh the people looking for a working pen! oh the people asking what date it is today!). I'm not hostile to it, as I won't second-guess people in how they handle their personal finances; but they should be considerate and do what they can to make the process move along as quickly as possible.

those "cash the check at the gro' sto'" folks now can get paid daily thru apps.

Mother is a supermarket cashier. She says the old buzzards - the mean, smelly ones who come in at 6am and yell at people - are the only ones who write checks.

They have a printer that can pre-fill all items on the check except the signature, but old people refuse to let her use it. They all think she’s trying to scam them out of something. They plaster their faces to the register screen, scanning for the slightest mistake or price discrepancy.

And she is herself an older white lady. Old people just think everyone’s out to get them. Except when they answer the phone. Then their brains leave their body.

[QUOTE]Who on earth writes a check in a store?

Like r16 mentioned, old people. The last person I saw write out a check was about 12 years ago at Trader Joe's, of all places. She had to be be 90 at least and had her sparse hair died chocolate brown.

A strange new development at my vet. They offer 3% off if you pay by cash or check. I was a little surprised.

They were accepting checks?! I thought that shit ended decades ago.

[quote] They have a printer that can pre-fill all items on the check except the signature

You mean that they can print out a check for the person to sign?

The DMV in Philly will only accept check or money orders. What century is this?

R17 Their business checking account probably allows them to deposit up to a few hundred checks a month at a flat fee. Same with depositing cash. However credit card payment will include a percentage charge per transaction. Some home repair businesses like plumbing and electric don't charge me tax if I pay in cash rather than credit card.

ummm...they don't have to pay taxes on your cash.

R12 a lot od contractors want cash. Period. I've had a couple who accepted checks, but most preferred cash.

[quote]A strange new development at my vet. They offer 3% off if you pay by cash or check. I was a little surprised.

Because credit card fees can be 3-4% depending on the card. They should really have discount for debit cards (PIN transactions) because those fees are capped.

Checks have their place in my life - paying my lawyer, my gardner, paying for my mom’s funeral, quarterly payments to the IRS, bought a brand new car for 60k. Wrote a check for it. Not at stores for sundry items or groceries.

'merica must be the last country on earth still using checks. You need to drag yourselves kicking and screaming into the 21st century for Gods sake.

I wrote a check at the supermarket a half hour ago.

((gasp))

I fill it out before I get to the cashier even though they have the automatic printing thing. I need to have a record on the carbon less copy slip. I could use my card but twice in the past 7 years it’s been compromised—even though I rarely use it (don’t buy much stuff in person). Now when I shop online, I use Privacy to get a virtual card and I can set a limit on that.

AND I’ve never gotten an answer from the Europeans here who don’t even carry cash, everything is paid with a card: do they never get hacked? What do they do that the US doesn’t?

[do they never get hacked? What do they do that the US doesn’t}

Their credit cards require a PIN to use (like an ATM card). So having the card (or the card number) doesn't mean shit without the PIN.

Hmmm. Seems like, decades ago when I got my first debit card, there was the option to use as a “credit” (not really) or as a debit with a PIN. Is it still like that? Because I’d use it with a PIN if it was less hackable.

[QUOTE]in the past 7 years it’s been compromised—

Were you responsible for any loses?

People who are still writing checks and who are still paying bills through the USPS need to be institutionalized.

+1 for your wonderful intro, OP

Back in the olden days, you could pay for your groceries on Saturday by writing a check, knowing it wouldn't hit your bank until the following Tuesday. It was called "the float," sort of an interest free cash advance courtesy of your local supermarket.

Those days are ovah!!!!!

So does this mean in the future I can sign up for their Red Card thing without needing a check? Right now, the only way to sign up and get that 5% discount is by giving them a check and I don't carry checks anymore.

[quote]They aren't as cheap as people think.

But apparently YOU are.

[quote]Who on earth writes a check in a store?

Usually the person in front of me in line.

[quote] They offer 3% off if you pay by cash or check.

3 percent is what most credit card processing costs, apparently.

Despite checks being a bit riskier overall (they can bounce) it may be cheaper to process than a credit card. And I think many places don't even have to "present" the check for payment, some can have it processed as an ACH debit. (They have to notify you that they're doing that but I've seen that numerous times before.)

[quote] So does this mean in the future I can sign up for their Red Card thing without needing a check? Right now, the only way to sign up and get that 5% discount is by giving them a check and I don't carry checks anymore.

Huh? It's a credit card. Why would they need a check for a credit card?

The sad, last days of cash.

It took nearly all of human history, but cash is no longer king.

Store credit cards are such a ludicrous proposition.

Why would I pay outrageously inflated APR on a card I can only use in your store, when I could get a lower rate and useful points/miles on a card I can use anywhere?

You don't pay the interest if you pay it off. And the target one is linked to your bank account so it's essentially a debit card that gives you a discount.

Right now in flyoverstan, a Boomer woman with a perfectly coifed 90s do is writing out a check at the Piggly Wiggly.

[quote] But will they still take cheques?

Yes, Karl Malden, please keep your trenchcoat closed now.

But in all seriousness, the Aspie crowd of credit card point-hoarding, cash-backing, status scroungers have created this situation.

CC companies don’t offer these benefits out of the kindness of their hearts. If you aren’t using a/any credit card in your wallet to its max, you are subsidizing some Delta Platinum Suite Queen’s free upgrade on their pointless (and usually ironic) trip to Dubai.

I applaud the merchants who are willing to call this out and pass along that cost break to their customers who still can/remember how to write a check. Or count the funny green bills to the right amount.

Whether or not those merchants hire people smart enough to give you correct change is an entirely different matter.

R17 here. I mentioned the 3% discount at the vet's office. It's a rather large practice (11 vets and countless techs). I'd thought that mid to larger businesses only paid a flat rate for debit transactions, at least (never use credit, only for emergencies). I guess either I don't know what constitutes a "larger" business or maybe card companies clamped up?

Either way, it was for a dental cleaning and tooth extraction 😮‍💨. It saved me ~ $50. It was very, very weird to write a physical check. It was ages since I had done so.

[quote]Huh? It's a credit card. Why would they need a check for a credit card?

The Target Red card comes in two flavors R38. The credit card, and a "debit" card that drafts your checking account with ACHs every time you use it. Walmart tried to launch a similar product a while ago and it failed (they did not offer a discount like Target does).

You get the 5% off with either.

R45 I see, thanks for the clarification.

They may be changing or eliminating some of that because I think they are changing everything to Target Circle branding. They just revamped the coupons/rewards part of that program and I suspect they may fold some of the card details into that.

They've also launched Target Circle 360 to be their delivery service.....I suspect they will sell off whatever ownership or connection they have to Shipt so it becomes its own thing.

Hasn’t Target had massive data breaches related to the Red Card? Who would want that tied to their bank account? Just to save 3%?

What if I'm on vacation, will Target take American Express Travelers Cheques?

R16, To be fair, most scammers are out to get old people.

I’m in my mid-fifties and I can’t even find my check book

r19 no. you hand the cashier one of your blank checks. It prints the store name, the date, and the amount and then they give it back to you to sign.

R47 there was just one major incident as far as i know - it was a pretty weird story and someone hacked a meat scale or something like that.

My first credit card was from Macy’s. I had to fill out this multi page application with a cancelled check and all kinds of nonsense. It took months for it to be processed and for a card to arrive in the mail.

Just a few years later college students were practically getting chased by credit card companies on campus to get an instant credit card.

[quote]Store credit cards are such a ludicrous proposition. Why would I pay outrageously inflated APR on a card I can only use in your store, when I could get a lower rate and useful points/miles on a card I can use anywhere?

You don't pay ANY APR if you pay it off each month.

You get a much bigger discount (e.g. 5% with Target's, Amazon's, and Walmart's) than you would with a generic VISA or Mastercard.

In the late 1990s I had a Macy's credit card that I only used a few times. One day I tried to use it again to pay for a present I was buying and for some reason the clerk wanted two pieces of government issued ID. I only had my driver's license. They would not let me use the card. So I decided I was going to pay what was left on the balance with my next bill and cancel the card. I mailed the bill with my check the day after I received it and attached a letter telling them to cancel my card. Even though I mailed it at least two weeks before the due date, they probably gave my payment with letter to a different department probably because it needed special follow-up, and they did not update it as paid until 3 days after the due date, and charged me an additional $25 late fee. I called them up and told them my story, but they refused to waive the late fee. Each month they added another $25 until it reached $200. I brought the matter personally to the store manager of Macy's in Herald Square and he agreed it was some bureaucratic fuck-up and got the late fees reversed. I never opened a department store credit card again.

awwww...

Check fraud is rampant these days, it got worse during COVID and just keeps accelerating. I work for a bank and our back office had to create a full time dept just to deal with it. I've been in banking Ops for over 30 years and have never seen anything like it.

Good people who still write cheques need to get their shit together

R58 Why bother, when they’re so close to the grave?

My mother still uses checks. She's somewhat upset that Target will stop taking them.

The elderly still think they're invincible and robbery proof if they weild checks instead of bank cards? They need to learn the hard way...

Looks like Target needs to stock up on calendars. They all must think it's still 1980 over there.

I before e.

I remembering writing a check for over the amount and getting cash back.

[quote]Old people just think everyone’s out to get them. Except when they answer the phone. [bold]Then their brains leave their body.[/bold]

This is 100% true R16! WHY???? Even when you try to educate old people about scams - as soon as the phone rings they instantly forget and are only seconds away from handing over ALL their financial and personal identification details. I simply don't understand it.

I feel like I should get a discount for using my debit card (vs. my credit card).

Checks include person’s name, their bank, bank account number, routing number and signature.

They seem very unsafe.

But do they accept Diners Club?

I've only ever written checks for my rent. It's the only form of payment the property company that owns my building accepts that they don't charge a fee for.

I haven't even seen a check for more than 20 years. Maybe longer.

i probably wouldn't shop at Target if it weren't for their Red Card giving you 5% off.

R4 They're REALLY not. I'm surprised they're still open with a Walmart on every corner.