Blank Checks šŸ¦…

It is legal to write a cheque on anything so long as it contains all the relevant details.

(Iā€™m not sure how old this page is, but :grimacing:)

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In fact, the Federal Reserve put out a report in December saying there were 14.5 billion check payments in 2018.

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I was going to suggest this but I couldnā€™t find a link to explain what I meant by blank cheques.

I would think it will be put through manually, but monzo would probably ask you not to use them in future, that would be my guess.

Is that mail then transported by stagecoach?:joy:

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The US banking system operates differently than the UK, many more financial institutions.
Checks and digital deposits are required here, they are selling points for major banks. Deposit by phone withdraw by atm. Monzo cannot survive unless they have it. Ally Bank has it and works well.
Whether the system here is behind the times or not itā€™s whatā€™s here.
In the US they say donā€™t give out your bank account details. In the UK itā€™s on the bottom of any bill.

Ray

Well, granted, in the US youā€™re also giving away your details with every check you write, so thatā€™s not all that different.

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But you do know who has it. Itā€™s all about identity theft.
Yes 2 different banking systems, and itā€™s what we have here.

Yes the UK banking is much better, itā€™s just not in the US.

Out of interest, what is so different about the US that knowing a bank account number enables identity theft?

Demonstrative example: When I pay my credit card bill, I have the option of going to the credit card providerā€™s website and keying in my account and routing number. I say ā€œmyā€, but experience has shown me that no name verification is being done. For a couple of months a while back, I was in a rut and financially reliant on a cousin. What we did was she gave me her routing (US equivalent of sort code) and account number, I provided it to my credit card company, the payments would come straight out of her account. Nobody at her bank even bothered to ask her why someone elseā€™s credit card payments were being debited from her account. When I was back on my feet, I wiped them and went back to having payments come out of my own account, but were I less trustworthy it would have been so easy to just continue pulling money from her account.

Well, thatā€™s not demonstrating identity theft, but still, knowing a bank account number gets you a lot more access to someoneā€™s bank account in the US than it does the UK.

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I could do exactly the same with a direct debit on someoneā€™s account over here.

The difference, I guess, is that the bank would take responsibility for allowing it and refund the money if I did that.

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Direct debits in the UK and eurozone work in that way too. The big difference being that you as the account holder have 8 weeks to reverse any direct debit to your account without having to provide any justification. Additionally, one can press charges against anyone that debited your account without written consent

Well, I certainly learned something today. For some reason I always thought that British and Eurozone direct debits would carry out some kind of name verification and fail if the bank account ownerā€™s name didnā€™t match the name of the person whose bill is being paid by direct debit.

Reminds me of the Jeremy Clarkson storyā€¦

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7174760.stm

Although it was 12 years ago now, not sure the system has changed any.

To my surprise, in the US you still need (in some specific situation) the ability to write a check so if we could print out some checks with all necessary information from a home printer, that would be great.

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Hi @mnouira! Thanks a lot for the suggestion - weā€™d love to understand more about these specific situations where you might need to use a check, so we can start working on ways for you to use your Monzo account in these cases. The more detail the better!

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For example, I need to send a check payment for my Water consumption bill which I get every quarter. Also, for my kidsā€™ school misc expenses such as - picnics, touranments, etc. - I need to pay by check.

There are always check writing services (money orders, certified checks,) that can be used in their place. I tend to avoid using any checks. Usually intermediate transfer services, bank checks, etc do the trick.

Yes you can use a check writing service through a bank, but does monzo offer this service??.if so we can just get check books printed.

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Wow - imagine - Monzo cheque books :grinning::face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Yep, thatā€™s the US banking system for you. One of these days weā€™ll move on from checks, but until then, Monzo may need to consider issuing books of hot coral checks for us in the States.

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