The real issue is that the apartment building is charged a fee by their payment processor to use electronic payments, and they didn’t want to pay it. It is a convenience fee for the bank customer (the building) because they have to do less work cashing checks.
It’s stupid to try to pass that to people living in the building. Most personal bank accounts allow you to pay automatically with a check that’s mailed for free. Paying by check is not inconvenient for individuals, it’s only inconvenient for the person cashing all the checks.
The issue is further up the chain but it’s an issue nonetheless. Banks want to go back to physical transactions about as much as people do, so in reality they should be charging for the physical to get people to move to digital.
It’s safer, faster, and encourages more spending, just like a credit card does.
But the fees for check processing were already baked into the system before credit cards even existed, so they’re not allowed to charge extra for a check, no matter how much they want to be rid of them.
It’s ridiculously cheap to process a check online. If they’re really trying to tell me it costs them 5 dollars to process a fucking check, they’re getting completely screwed. So it’s either lying and greed or unbelievable incompetence.
Right but it saves labor in the office, and the cost of dealing with bounced checks, and the accounting is much easier when payments are made online, so the landlord ought not put the gross cost into the rent. It’s cost and savings to the landlord, likely netting out to nothing, or a savings on the online accounts.
In a small restaurant, I understand cash discount. They are gonna have to count the drawer at the end of the night either way. In an apartment building, no. That’s charging people for saving you time and effort, it’s a junk fee.
The real issue is that the apartment building is charged a fee by their payment processor to use electronic payments, and they didn’t want to pay it. It is a convenience fee for the bank customer (the building) because they have to do less work cashing checks.
It’s stupid to try to pass that to people living in the building. Most personal bank accounts allow you to pay automatically with a check that’s mailed for free. Paying by check is not inconvenient for individuals, it’s only inconvenient for the person cashing all the checks.
The issue is further up the chain but it’s an issue nonetheless. Banks want to go back to physical transactions about as much as people do, so in reality they should be charging for the physical to get people to move to digital.
It’s safer, faster, and encourages more spending, just like a credit card does.
But the fees for check processing were already baked into the system before credit cards even existed, so they’re not allowed to charge extra for a check, no matter how much they want to be rid of them.
These systems can change as they have done everywhere except in the US. In most of Europe digital transfers are free and checks virtually nonexistent.
It’s ridiculously cheap to process a check online. If they’re really trying to tell me it costs them 5 dollars to process a fucking check, they’re getting completely screwed. So it’s either lying and greed or unbelievable incompetence.
Right but it saves labor in the office, and the cost of dealing with bounced checks, and the accounting is much easier when payments are made online, so the landlord ought not put the gross cost into the rent. It’s cost and savings to the landlord, likely netting out to nothing, or a savings on the online accounts.
In a small restaurant, I understand cash discount. They are gonna have to count the drawer at the end of the night either way. In an apartment building, no. That’s charging people for saving you time and effort, it’s a junk fee.
Let me ask you a question: do you think it takes brains and talent to rent out apartments? The answer may surprise you!