Target joins ranks of Aldi, Whole Foods as stores no longer taking checks

[question everything]

Soon, shoppers will not be able to cut a check to pay for the contents of their Target shopping baskets.

The Minneapolis retailer said it will stop accepting personal checks in stores later this month, with the payment method dwindling in popularity through the years as more people use credit and debit cards as well as a growing segment of digital-exchange platforms.

(snip)

Check usage — which in the 1980s and 90s had been a dominant form of payment used for a range of everyday activities from paying rent to sending a gift — has lessened considerably in recent years. Checks represented about half of noncash payments in the United States in 2003, but that number fell to 15% in 2012, according to data from the Federal Reserve.

(snip)

The decline of check payments in the past decade only accelerated during the pandemic as more consumers began to widely use contactless virtual payments, including digital wallets and peer-to-peer (P2P) apps like Zelle, Venmo and PayPal, said Elisa Tavilla, director of debit advisor services for payments and banking consultancy Javelin Strategy & Research.

Only 1% of consumers prefer to use checks when making in-store purchases like at retail stores or restaurants, according to a 2023 North America payment insights study by Javelin Strategy & Research.

(snip)

According to their websites, discount grocery chain Aldi and organic store Whole Foods also don't take checks.

https://www.startribune.com/target-aldi-whole-foods-not-take-checks-payment/600378276/

[BOSSHOG]

1. I have no opinion on the ban BUT

It is a pain in the ass to get behind some senior citizen (I am one of those) who drags out his/her checkbook after everything is rung up and laboriously pays their bill. I pay my grocery bills with cash about 100% of the time.

If you insist on using checks you can have it mostly filled out before you get to the store and have it handy when it’s your turn.

OK, that’s my bitchin for the day.

[OldBaldy1701E]

2. That applies to most times one is at the checkout register.

If I see one more person standing there waiting until their entire purchase is rung up and sent down the conveyor before deciding to lackadaisically dig their wallet out and inventory the contents in a half-assed attempt to find their debit card, I will not be responsible for my actions.

(Also, if you are not proficient with the self-checkout, please don't use it unless you are freaking alone in the freaking store. If your store has downsized to only using self-checkout and you don't know how to use it, learn. Don't stand there like a supplicant awaiting a quest and murmuring to yourself about how it should work. Thank you.)

[dflprincess]

3. Long ago when I was a cashier (in high school & college)

it would make me crazy when someone would wait until everything was rung up to drag out their checkbook or wallet - like having to pay came as a shock to them. And, it wasn't just senior citizens.

It still makes me nuts when I'm in line behind someone who does this. The people who take forever to find their debit card are nearly as bad.

[BOSSHOG]

4. It boggles my mind

It’s a matter of consideration of other shoppers. I maintain various bills in my wallet and am ready to pay and go. About the only thing I use my debit card for is to get cash. Naively I strive to minimize my exposure on the WWW. I was a checker at WalMart in 1971. Debit Cards were not an option.

[dflprincess]

6. 1971 was the the time I was a cashier (actually 1970-77)

I was at a local grocery store chain that had a union and I made a whopping $2.07/hr (part time) when I started. I felt like I was on my way to being wealthy & was the envy of many of my friends who made around $1.60.

[raising2moredems]

5. Post when the "establishment" no longer accepts cash

After getting caught in a Target breach 10 years ago, I used my CC this year to pay. Target won't accept checks well I guess they don't need my business. I too prefer to pay cash and no longer patronize places that won't accept the currency of the United States.

[question everything]

8. When I used to pay by check - more than 20 years ago - I would have it pre-filled: date, payee

even signed so all I would have to do was to write the amount.

And yes, I had it in my hand ready.

sigh..

[BOSSHOG]

9. That's so easy to do

And kind and considerate to all.

[progree]

7. I have trouble with cash payments - actually I prefer to pay cash, but

Last edited Thu Jul 4, 2024, 12:44 PM - Edit history (2)

but my local ATM only spits out $100's. At fast food places, if I pay with a $100, they blanche and disappear with the $100 to some back room for awhile like they had to discuss this first with Janet Yellen and Jerome Powell at the Federal Reserve or something. Even $50's. But I have to break $100's somehow.

I read articles about how stores don't like $50's and $100's, and some won't accept them.

So tired of this shit.

So I just pull out my credit card and let the store eat the damn 3% or whatever swipe fee. And some stores like that - it's much quicker for the store (and me) if I just hold up the card to the card reader for a second than to piddle around with greenbacks and coins.

But some are charging extra for card payments, sigh.

Edited to add: Oh, most self-checkout are no-cash, card-only, in my experience /End Edit

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That ATM that spits out only $100's -- well that's if I ask for $100 or $200 or $300. I've learned a different routine: Ask for $180 (remember to press "Other Amount" button first) - then it spits out a $100 bill and four 20's. Then I do it again (I feel guilty if someone is behind me in line). So I end up with two $100 bills and eight 20's.

I don't like the personal security implications of this.

I don't have a car, there's no other ATMs that don't charge a fee within walking distance.

On the personal security - I could do $80 at a time but too many trips to the ATM that I don't go to much anymore.

And there is no freaking way I'm going to make extra trips to the ATM just to save the store (I'm not that altruistic), or myself the swipe fee (I value my time a lot more than spending 10's of minutes to save a couple dollars).

Grocery trips are almost always over $100, and since I walk to the store a long distance, I'm not thrilled with carrying $200.

And then there's the damn change (coins) issue. If I just pay in paper currency, the coins pile up at home. If I get rid of some change, well that's an extra time-consuming step. At a fast food place, as soon as I pull out a coin purse, the cashier gets busy with another task right away.

That's my rant for tonight.