At Extreme Investor Network, we are always on the cutting edge of personal finance trends and information. Today, we want to discuss the decline of personal check usage in America and what it means for consumers in the modern era.
In a recent report by GoBankingRates, it was found that only 15% of adults in 2023 wrote a few checks a month, with 46% reporting that they hadn’t written a single check that year. The shift away from checks has been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, with many Americans embracing contactless and digital payment methods instead.
Some retailers, like Target and Aldi, have even stopped accepting personal checks altogether due to the prevalence of check fraud. Scott Anchin, from the Independent Community Bankers of America, states that checks are inherently insecure and that the move towards contactless and digital payments is inevitable.
While older Americans are still the most likely to write checks regularly, younger generations are increasingly turning to mobile payment apps like Venmo and Zelle. This shift away from traditional banking infrastructure highlights a changing financial landscape where checks may become a thing of the past for everyday transactions.
Despite the decline in check usage, there is still a place for personal checks in certain circumstances, such as large one-off payments like real estate transactions or charitable donations. In this way, checks may continue to hold on for some time, albeit in a limited capacity.
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