> and I doubt they will ever become truly obsolete.
I expect they will just become obsolete slower in the USA than other parts of the world.
Personal cheques are already obsolete in my country (New Zealand). And their usage looks to be sharply declining in European countries: https://www.statista.com/statistics/443677/cashless-payment-... or countries are trying to stop their usage (UK, Australia).
Yes, checks have important benefits but the downsides (fraud, processing costs, credit risk) lead to them becoming uncommon and then obsolete in other countries. No reason the USA will be different.
I expect they will just become obsolete slower in the USA than other parts of the world.
Personal cheques are already obsolete in my country (New Zealand). And their usage looks to be sharply declining in European countries: https://www.statista.com/statistics/443677/cashless-payment-... or countries are trying to stop their usage (UK, Australia).
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1055578/check-usage-by-c... implies that the USA likes checks. 30 years ago NZ had over 50% of transactions by cheque.
Yes, checks have important benefits but the downsides (fraud, processing costs, credit risk) lead to them becoming uncommon and then obsolete in other countries. No reason the USA will be different.