Checks are nearly obsolete

[NewsWhore]

The use of checks as a method of payment dates from the Middle Ages and the dawn of modern commerce. However, it appears that the use of these instruments has begun its final decline due to the use of electronic methods introduced over the past decade. Electronic transactions for corporate or private payments have become the norm, especially between corporations. Listin Diario reports that according to sources in the banking industry, electronic transactions are on the increase every day, with ATMs easily available, and Internet Banking becoming accessible to anyone with a computer connection. "Banker's Hours" is a phrase that is lost to the memory of many modern clients, who have become used to 24-hour access to their money and credit. The newspaper also says that check cashing as a business has fallen by 70% in some areas of Santo Domingo. Every one of the twenty check-cashing institutions consulted by the paper agreed that business was off a great deal. They said that the decline has become more obvious over the past two years. Even the Dominican government is doing 90% of its payments by electronic banking. It has hit the taxman as well: the much-debated 0.0015% tax on checks generated 78% less than expected between January and April of 2006.

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