We use ACH direct deposits for all our transactions when possible, but when not, check is really the only other option. Credit card fees are far too expensive for the recipient (3-5%) for large amounts.
We are typically asked to write checks by lawyers :) Everyone else has moved to electronic banking.
Checks are also handy for one-off payments to people (not companies!) you don't know and won't meet again.
Many banks will instantly deposit checks up a certain amount (say $500), and deposit some percentage of large checks immediately, with the rest deposited after the check has cleared the writer's bank.
Which credit union would that be? Given that my cube mate just refinanced his Mortgage at 3.375%, no points, I sense there is an arbitrage opportunity here somewhere.
I am willing to wager your credit union is not paying you 3.5% APY on your checking account. That is, if you had $10,000 in your checking account at the end of the year, and you just left it there, you would not have $10,375 at the end of year.
There is a restriction/surcharge in there that you haven't mentioned.
You would lose that wager. The restriction is that there's an upper-bound on the amount you can earn that interest rate on ($15,000), and you must have at least X number of check card and ACH transactions per month, but there are no fees or surcharges. I also get ATM fee refunds up to $12/mo when I need to use out-of-network ATMs.
This is why I don't understand why people keep going back to banks and getting screwed every single time. The bank is there to make money off its customers; the credit union, by definition, is there to make money for its customers.
I'm happy to hook you up with my cube-mate's mortgage broker. He isn't bearing any of the costs, no points, not even an appraisal fee. This is a 30 year fixed mortgage. His position is basically, "I'll refinance if you bear 100% of the service charges and I don't give you any money for anything." [Edit - Oh. Australia. :-)]
