Why won't my check to Walmart clear the bank?

[SL6827]

Checks will be on the way out eventually. But I do love showing my Disney spirit with my checks. LoL.

 

[tvguy]

Once they add in benefits and taxes it is costing the government $150,000 per year to hire someone to open checks and deposit them. No way that is cheaper for them than an electronic payment. At our county's website you just enter your checking account routing number and the account number. Much easier for them to process.

According to this from the website, no humans are involved in handling checks. The electronic payments, however, DO require a human. Go figure.


Why do I have to pay a convenience fee if I pay by credit card or e-check?
The cost of processing a check mailed to our lock box (remittance processing operation) is far less expensive and more efficient than the cost of handling an electronic check payment or credit card transaction. Our high speed NCR remittance processors handle thousands of transactions per hour and automatically match the check to the bill, scan and endorse the check, create a file to update the taxpayer’s record, and prepare the checks for deposit.

Debit card and credit card transactions require special handling by tax collector staff to update the customers account. In addition, the processing company and credit card companies charge the merchant (in this case the County) a percentage of the transaction (2.29%) for credit cards and debit cards when paying by phone or online. Internet Transactions are charged a higher percentage by the credit card companies due to the high incidence of fraud they experience on Internet transactions (even though we argue that there is little likelihood that an individual would pay their taxes with a stolen card.)

 

[tvguy]

Checks will be on the way out eventually. But I do love showing my Disney spirit with my checks. LoL.

Some laws are going to have to change for checks to completely disappear. I sold my parents house, it was in a trust. Not sure if it is state or federal law, but the law requires payment on real estate held in a trust to be by check.
And at least in California, even if you have direct deposit, when you leave a job your final pay check has to be just that, a check.

 

[SL6827]

Some laws are going to have to change for checks to completely disappear. I sold my parents house, it was in a trust. Not sure if it is state or federal law, but the law requires payment on real estate held in a trust to be by check.
And at least in California, even if you have direct deposit, when you leave a job your final pay check has to be just that, a check.

Interesting info on that. Had no idea.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Guess you haven't bought a car in 10 years. My daughter bought her first car on her own in April. She has a debit card, a credit card, Pay Pal etc, and was shocked to discover the only two ways she could make a down payment were cash or check.
In a normal month these days I write about 3 checks.

I pay my property taxes by check because they levy a 2.29% fee for other payment methods. I'm NOT giving them an additional $48 on top of my $2,100 property taxes every year. The Tax Assessor website says paper checks are the least expensive payment method for them to process.

You’re right. I did buy a car for DD19 recently and put as much as they’d allow on a cc for points and the balance I wrote a check for. That’s a bit different from Walmart though.
I do write checks for down payment when purchasing a home as well. That’s about all I can think of.

Same with college tuition.

Nope, never write a check for that either.

 

[tvguy]

Nope, never write a check for that either.

My daughter's college was in a battle with the credit card companies over the fees they were being charged, so they stopped taking credit cards for anything. But that was the 2009-2010 school year, and she left after then. No idea if that is still the case.

 

[kymom99]

You’re right. I did buy a car for DD19 recently and put as much as they’d allow on a cc for points and the balance I wrote a check for. That’s a bit different from Walmart though.
I do write checks for down payment when purchasing a home as well. That’s about all I can think of.


Nope, never write a check for that either.

Well my sons charges a fee for cc payments. So I send a check.

 

[gottalovepluto]

You’re right. I did buy a car for DD19 recently and put as much as they’d allow on a cc for points and the balance I wrote a check for. That’s a bit different from Walmart though.
I do write checks for down payment when purchasing a home as well. That’s about all I can think of.


Nope, never write a check for that either.

Passport renewal!

 

[SL6827]

Passport renewal!

Purchase of my passport last year.

 

[SL6827]

Check still hasn't cleared so I am betting it never will. Also looked at my savings catcher and that receipt was not eligible for any savings rewards.

 

[LizzyS]

I'm still waiting for a check I wrote in 2000 to clear. I checked with the merchant, and HIS bank put the money in his account, it just never got taken out of my account. Drove me nuts every month when I balanced my checkbook. I think about 2010 I just entered the money back into my checking account as a deposit!

I had an issue similar to this where I wrote a check to my pest control company for $28 that showed as $26 in my account. I called my pest control company and they said it was deposited correctly, so I eventually just adjusted the $2 in my register, lol.

 

[SL6827]

I wonder if they lost the check. If it doesn't clear by years end, I am going to stop payment on it.

 

[kymom99]

I wonder if they lost the check. If it doesn't clear by years end, I am going to stop payment on it.

I personally wouldn't pay to do that. If someone had taken it, you would have surely seen evidence by now.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I personally wouldn't pay to do that. If someone had taken it, you would have surely seen evidence by now.

I agree, I definitely wouldn't pay $30ish to stop payment on it, I'd just let it go. I had a check 5 or so years ago to the car repair place for about $250 never clear the bank. I assume they lost it. After months of it not clearing, I just added the money back in and didn't worry about it.

 

[SL6827]

I agree, I definitely wouldn't pay $30ish to stop payment on it, I'd just let it go. I had a check 5 or so years ago to the car repair place for about $250 never clear the bank. I assume they lost it. After months of it not clearing, I just added the money back in and didn't worry about it.

May not then.

 

[seashoreCM]

What, pray, happens if you send in your check payment and Walmart credits the check to your account normally and prepares their bank deposit and, somewhere along the line from Walmart to their bank to the Federal Reserve to your bank the check got lost?

Maybe an armored truck got hijacked or crashed and your check (along with thousands of others) got lost.

Maybe a piece of luggage with a deposit bag containing your check got lost by an airline.

So your bank doesn't get back the check to clear, and deduct the payment from your account with. They with so many other checks coming in and going out for you and their other customers might never notice the absence of this one check of yours.

I was a little slow to adapt to electronic payments but eventually I cut down on writing checks and now do most of my transactions over the phone or on the internet. But I still deal with a few companies that charge a fee for everything, everything other than checks sent in the mail or payments made in person in their offices.

 

[tvguy]

But I still deal with a few companies that charge a fee for everything, everything other than checks sent in the mail or payments made in person in their offices.

I posted this above, but an old fashion check is the only way I can pay my property taxes without an additional fee.

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

What, pray, happens if you send in your check payment and Walmart credits the check to your account normally and prepares their bank deposit and, somewhere along the line from Walmart to their bank to the Federal Reserve to your bank the check got lost?

Maybe an armored truck got hijacked or crashed and your check (along with thousands of others) got lost.

Maybe a piece of luggage with a deposit bag containing your check got lost by an airline.

So your bank doesn't get back the check to clear, and deduct the payment from your account with. They with so many other checks coming in and going out for you and their other customers might never notice the absence of this one check of yours.

I was a little slow to adapt to electronic payments but eventually I cut down on writing checks and now do most of my transactions over the phone or on the internet. But I still deal with a few companies that charge a fee for everything, everything other than checks sent in the mail or payments made in person in their offices.

Back in the mid 90s I worked for NationsBank and all our "proof" work(think checks, deposit slips etc) was picked up by armored truck and taken to the Ft Lauderdale executive aiport and flown to Tampa. One time the courier plan landed in the bay and was quite a mess, some work was recovered some was not, the pilot was ok.