"In this country we can no longer pay by cheque as our bank cards no longer serve as cheque guarantee cards. At one point the banks wanted to phase cheques out altogether but there was so much opposition they had to abandon the idea v- for the present, at least."
*** I wrote a check for a item in a big box store here (as it was a business expense, but no matter), and the person behind me in line said, "I cannot BEELLLLLIEEEVE people are writing checks these days!" To which I responded, "I cannot believe people are being such sphincters these days," and the cashier said, "Just ignore him, he is a jerk." The part that amazes me is how in using credit and debit cards, we are gradually forcing the price up on everything, at least that 2-3% that the credit card company charges. A card that originally was for travel, emergencies, and occasionally large purchases, has become the norm (and created debt for some misusers, but that is a different issue). When businesses do the year end tally of what they give to Visa (or whomever), one is astounded, and along with annual and bi-annual fees they pay, that amount gets rounded up to at least 5%, sometimes 10%. I think it is an unnamed culprit in increasing costs passed on to consumers. Banks offer debit cards as they they give services that they used to include when writing/using checks. Here, many just list check numbers and amounts in statements (whereas they used to provide detailed information), and now they only do it with debit card purchases. To receive check details, you have to pay an additional fee, so we are being hoodwinked into thinking we are getting the convenience of a 'swipe' of the card, but overall we are creating a big monster of these large CC companies, and end up paying more and more for almost everything we buy. I think it is important to try to be conscious of what we are doing and how it affects things. But they tell me now that some stores refuse to take cash, also. I like the beauty of a handwritten check (with benefit of memo detail), but like handwritten letters, notes and cards...seems to have gone to the wayside. Best, Susan Reishus To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003/albums/most-recent
