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I saw this article in the Washington Post and thought that I haven’t sent a check by mail in years. Am I the minority in this?
I pay all my bills electronically and once in a blue moon, I pay a few bills by the Wells Fargo app.
Also, if you pay by mail, what do do to protect yourself from what is described in the article?
My wife clings to the old ways, but I’m managing the money now, and everything is electronic. I only pay three bills every month via ACH. Everything is paid using credit cards because we earn 2% to 6% on those cards via rebates. I treat them as the new “savings account.”
I have not had a checkbook since 2017. I only allow my mortgage and HOA to be automatically withdrawn from my checking. For all other routine bills I push the money electronically.
For non-routine bills when possible I use Zelle. Otherwise, I can use my credit union’s bill pay feature to have a check mailed to the vendor.
I write a check for my condo fees, and a check for property taxes, but I always pay in person. The clerk at the town hall told me that many people still pay cash.
I still write checks for some bills. I won’t auto-pay certain firms or certain subscriptions where I think the company could abuse the authorization if we had a financial dispute. I pay all my credit card bills with a check, because I want to review my charges before I give them money. I pay the periodic contractors (plumber, electrician, handyman) with a check. And I pay my estimated taxes and any tax bill with a check. I try to use those pens that resist check-washing. When I put a check in the mail, I put it in the box inside my post office, rather than an outside box or in my mailbox for pickup. So far, so good.
I don’t have my credit card payments on automatic because, like you, I want to review the charges. But I don’t send a check: I do a bank transfer on the company’s website. Rumor has it that a clerk at our main post office is involved in check washing, so using the inside box would be no help.