If you are still writing checks at local retail businesses, then I'm very surprised you haven't run into this at other businesses many years ago. It's by no way limited to LBS's. Checks take more time to clear so the business can't be assured they get their money and though illegal it just cost too much to hunt down and prosecute anyone that writes a bad check. And they can cost more to run through services that verify them on the spot than the fees the business pays to take a credit or debit card.

??? There's an extra percentage (about 3%) related specifically to credit card use. That's the fee people are talking about. It's more of a "credit card network" fee (not a "banking" fee). It's big enough that some business are adding it to your bill.

Rolla,
I don't think we're disagreeing. But, the last comment about dino's was missing the point entirely. Isn't this about having a choice about how to run your business or to where you want to spend your money. No need to disparage anyone. Do your business with whomever you choose, up to you.

I do not blame a store for not accepting cheques.

With credit cards, the merchant is typically not liable for fraud provided they follow their processor's rules (such as chip cards inserted vs swiped). That's because the processing network has responsibility for checking the validity and either authorizing or denying the charge.

With paper checks, if the merchant is not using some sort of verification service, they're SOL if the check turns out to be fraudulent.

As to your experiences with companies accepting checks - they may be using check verification systems if they're getting enough checks to justify it, or they're in a place or in a type of business where there's a lot less check fraud. Criminals are much more likely to go write a rubber check for a $1500 bicycle they can quickly sell than they are to go write rubber checks for icecream or woodworking supplies.

That's different than there being no other practical way to deposit money into your brokerage account...

Do remember that your name, ACH routing number and account number is sitting on the front of every one of those paper checks for anyone to take a picture of...

My credit is so bad they won't even accept my cash.

What disparagement? I was talking about literal dinosaurs. Like them, businesses and individuals who do not deal with digital/electronic transactions will eventually be a thing of the past.

Hey attacking the dinosaurs is just too soon! That sort of comedy is just wrong. The best jokes are ones that don't disparage those who have so recently passed.

I will say though business who don't deal in cash are a little odd, I get the whole future is digital stuff but dollar bills and coins with dead peoples faces are legal tender for all debts public and private. There are occasions when I actually have cash that I want to use rather than my card. I know that yes actually having change is tough but if you just deal in bills and make your pricing tax inclusive as needed so it adds up to say $2.00 instead of $1.97 or something like that it isn't so bad.

From my understanding of how checks work in the U.S., the LBS would have to purchase an additional service from their current payment provider so funds can be taken from a check real-time (as a credit advice), just as many grocery stores do.

No business will accept an "honesty" check without such financial service. I don't blame them. I have never accepted a personal check in my whole life and have little sympathy to waste any time explaining to a payer why.

I'm a private bike-flipper and I pay about US$50 in fees each month to a provider so I can accept credit cards. 50% of the time a buyer comes up with the story of how they don't have enough cash, and when I whip out the CC terminal, a routine hereditary instinct in them just takes over and they pull out their plastic.

Did anyone mention a business not dealing in cash? Most retail businesses won't take cheques, but cash is not usually a problem unless it's a large purchase item. Then money laundering rules kick in (at least here in the UK)

You are still free to take a walk regardless. The time it frees up just gives you more options.

I like to have a purpose for those types of walks. And having had personal information stolen from a couple of company systems, including my health insurance provider, I prefer to keep my digital footprint as small as possible. Your information is always secure until it’s not.

I guess if that's what it takes.... but it's still not a valid argument. As for stealing personal info, it's a drop in the ocean. Your digital footprint will be much bigger than you imagine anyway unless you really go out of your way to inconvenience yourself.

Welcome to the new normal. Cashless society

I remember when small businesses generally took checks, and it was decades ago. Remember the gallery of bounced checks businesses would hang on the wall next to the register?
The merchant gets charged a fee if the check bounces so they not only get stiffed, they lose about $25. That's reason enough to refuse to take the risk.

Checks aren't cash. That's kind of the point.

I don’t use credit cards very often. I carry cash and debit usually pay with cash at my local bike shop and they actually have a cash register. I have never asked whether they take checks. They have been around since the seventies so they are “old school’ in some ways. I don’t think it is unusual for a shop not to accept checks. I still do at my shop and in 39 years have only had a couple of bad checks.

Information like your routing and account numbers? How is the utility company on a having that on a paper check any different from having a card number? By the way, my utilities are paid by electronic check, if anything it's more secure than paper checks going through real space (mail or handed to a clerk) prior to being entered electronically. That check is going to be part of your digital footprint just as much as any non-cash payment, it's just a matter of who's going to enter the information.

Last thing on this--I know an attorney who will no longer take personal checks because a bank retroactively bounced a check about 3 months after it was deposited and credited to the account. That threw off the balance of the trust account, which is a very big deal.

I have no idea what would cause the delay in the bounce.

I’m kind of surprised that this seems to be the OP’s first experience with a business not accepting checks. This has been pretty common I think for over a decade around here.

I guess that depends where you live. Pretty much all retail shops here stopped taking cheques/checks about a decade ago.

The banks often give you the money before the check clears and it can take a while until the check clears.

There are a lot of scams based on things working this way.

I'm seeing businesses not taking cash in my area. My favorite restaurant only takes checks or cash and they have a 2 week reservation wait......

What really annoys me are restaurants w/o paper menus. Reading a menu on my phone after scanning a QR code isn't my idea of fun. I never return to such places.

Long’s Bakery shops - best donuts in the American Heartland - are CASH ONLY!