Why Paper Checks Refuse to Die

Target stopped accepting personal checks as a form of payment this month, which might inspire the following question: What took so long?

Check fraud has more than doubled in recent years, and it costs at least a dollar for businesses to process each check they receive. Plenty of young adults have never even written one.

But if you haven’t used a check in years and consider it a badge of honor, that may say a lot about where you live and what you pay for. In many industries, checks continue to be a popular form of payment, and sometimes they are required.

According to consumer survey data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, which tracks the percentage of payments that consumers make by check, the following industries receive the most check payments: Contractors, like electricians and plumbers, get 25 percent of their payments by check. Charitable and religious organizations are next at 22 percent. Landlords, government taxing authorities and professional-service firms also receive double-digit percentages of their payments by check.

There are many pockets of commerce in which checks are required. Readers of Your Money newsletter wrote in to complain about having to write checks for a number of things, like homeowners’ association dues and haircuts, along with dog shows and the occasional long-term care insurance policy.

Some people actually like it this way, though they cite many different reasons. Feelings play a role, as do fees. Fear does, too.