I can't even remember the last time. My husband takes care of finances so he writes an occasional check, such as to the local water company that is still in the dark ages and not set up for electronic payment.
We use our bank's bill paying system. NO CHARGE. But for some reason my husband pays the local water bill with a check. Not sure why and not interested enough to ask.
It's been at least five years, I think. But then, my wife pays most of the bills. I think there are a few that she uses a check for, although most are paid online or over the phone by card.
I write a check for my real estate taxes (my house & land), a check for my personal property taxes (my car, truck, trailer, boat), the occasional check for church fundraisers (local food banks, families in a crisis, St. Andrews Society, etc), and checks to my regular firewood guy (since he knows me, he does not require cash like the other firewood guys do.) That's only 6 checks or so in an entire year. It would be 4 if I paid my firewood guy with cash. All else gets paid with a rebate credit card and my bank's automated bill pay service.
Most municipalities make you pay the credit card processing fees, if they even take cards in the first place. Otherwise, there are budget issues/reductions in revenue that gotta get made up by others.
Monthly bills are on autopay. Just hope I never have to change banks. I've yet to meet a small independent contractor here who will take credit cards, debit cards, or e-checks. I paid by check for roofing and house painting this year. Things that are only once a year, like property taxes, I usually pay by check. They charge a hefty fee if you use a credit card. I was late on an auto insurance payment just this week, because my bank didn't notify me for a week that an e-check didn't go through. No explanation. Last time they said it would take a week to get there, and that was past the due date. This is two times now. Not worth the risk anymore.
Yup. I recently looked at changing to a local bank because the nearest BB&T branch is 16 miles from home. It's not that big of a deal because I don't go there very often, but for other reasons I'm not all that fond of BB&T. But when I look at the level of technology and features I've got with my BB&T bill pay/credit card accounts compared to the small guys (who look as though they're using DOS 3.1) I just can't do that to myself. And setting up those accounts again is akin to getting a new PC. I remember when this happened to you before, but don't recall if there was a resolution. I can't believe it's happened again. I've never had an issue with my bank's billpay system, and since I got a rebates VISA card, I have my insurances automatically charging to that. I can't imagine using a system that I had to fret over and manually monitor...especially when insurance cancellation may be on the line.
The last time it was homeowners insurance. The bank just indicated it wouldn't get paid for a week, which was past the due date, as if they were sending a paper check by snail mail. It was in the middle of the first (serious) lockdown, so I wrote it off as just a one time thing. This time, the bank emailed me that it didn't go through, and when I got on the bank website the address and account # of the insurance company had disappeared. I was able to pay it by credit card and set them both up on autopay by CC on the insurance company's website. It could be a problem on that insurance company's end.
The last one? Must have been in the late 90s. Since then I've been paying everything on autopay, by debit card, or online.
paid the local water company by check a couple of days ago. if I get the bill soon enough I can pay thru my bank's bill paying system, but if the mail is slow, I pay in person by check to avoid late charges.
My wife pays all bills by check and, once the check passes thru the bank, we can see it. Anything bought online or at a store, is done with a credit card. We know two "Snowbird" couples that pay their bills thru direct payment from their bank.