On Sep 21, 6:20 pm, "Gregory Morrow"
> wrote:
> http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,3717069.story
>
> Grocery stores taking check use off shoppers' lists
>
> In a cost-cutting move, Whole Foods may emulate Fresh & Easy in accepting
> only cash and credit and debit cards at checkout.
>
> By Jerry Hirsch
>
> September 21, 2009
>
> "Long before banks started locating branches inside supermarkets, grocery
> stores acted as informal financial establishments, cashing payroll checks
> and personal checks to provide ready cash for their customers. That's
> starting to change.
>
> Whole Foods Market Inc. is considering banning the use of personal checks at
> its stores and this month stopped accepting checks at two stores in Los
> Angeles County and one in Arizona as a test.
>
> Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, the California division of British
> retailing giant Tesco, won't take personal checks at any of the 70 stores it
> operates in California.
>
> "Supermarkets used to be a repository of checking, cashing payroll and
> personal checks, but in an age of direct deposit and debit cards, that's not
> something that is relevant to their customers anymore," said Mac Brand, a
> Chicago food industry consultant.
>
> The heads of these chains see check processing as a time-consuming and
> expensive service at a time when the industry is looking to drive down
> business costs, he said. But such a move carries risk.
>
> "Every time you take something away, you run the risk of severing your
> relationship with a customer," Brand said.
>
> Such policies would irritate shopper Kerry Showalter of Newbury Park, he
> said.
>
> "Grocery stores are a dime a dozen. If the Albertsons where I shop stopped
> accepting checks, I would just go to Vons," he said.
>
> The computer industry sales executive said he uses checks to buy groceries
> as method of keeping "a budget under control."
>
> He said he's bothered by using debit and credit cards -- which he said are
> not actual representations of money -- on perishables such as groceries. The
> physical act of writing a check makes shoppers think more carefully about
> their purchases, he said.
>
> It would also be hard on many seniors, who have been slow to adopt the use
> of debit cards, said Gail Hillebrand, a lawyer and financial services expert
> for the nonprofit Consumers Union.
>
> But a widespread move by the grocery industry to ban personal checks would
> not upset other shoppers such as Sharon Fern of Placentia.
>
> "I haven't written or carried a checkbook in many years," she said.
> "Wouldn't bother me a bit." Debit cards are far more convenient, she said..
>
> "The money comes right out of my account and saves a lot of time over
> writing a check," Fern said.
>
> Vons, Albertsons and Ralphs -- the stores most likely to have a bank branch
> within their locations -- continue to accept checks.
>
> They also cash payroll checks, although the chains typically charge a
> service fee of about $1 to about 1% of the check, depending on the municipal
> regulations of the city where the store is located.
>
> Representatives of the chains said there were no plans to end the services,
> and one supermarket industry executive questioned why, in an environment of
> increasing competition for shoppers, a company would add a barrier to
> potential sales.
>
> Fresh & Easy, which started opening stores two years ago, has only
> self-service checkout. It doesn't take checks or manufacturers' coupons.
>
> "We keep our systems as simple as possible, keeping prices low for
> customers. We do accept cash, credit and debit cards and also have an ATM in
> store," said Brendan Wonnacott, a spokesman for the chain.
>
> Bill Jordan, Whole Foods' regional vice president, said prohibiting personal
> checks should improve service.
>
> "Since most of our customers pay with cash, debit cards or credit cards, we
> want them to be able to check out as quickly as possible. This pilot program
> was put in place to see if personal check users would make the switch to
> debit cards or another form of payment."
>
> In little more than a week into the change, "the program is off to a great
> start," he said.
>
> So far only the stores in El Segundo, one in Los Angeles on 3rd Street near
> Fairfax Avenue and a store in Tempe, Ariz., have stopped accepting checks..
> The chain had already stopped cashing payroll checks.
>
> Jordan said Whole Foods would evaluate consumer reaction before rolling out
> the change to other stores.
>
> A recent rise in bad checks also factors into the new policy, he said. "That
> unfortunately makes it more difficult for the remaining customers who prefer
> to pay this way. To help reduce fraud, we have a several-step personal check
> approval process that can often inconvenience other customers in line,"
> Jordan said.
>
> The chain prefers cash, debit cards and credit cards because they can be
> processed quickly and "come with added protections" that safeguard the
> interests of the consumer and the retailer, Jordan said.
>
> Many retailers prefer the type of debit cards that require the shopper to
> punch in a personal identification number to complete the purchase. That's
> because those have the best combination of low transaction fees and
> security, said Adam Levitin, a law professor and consumer finance expert at
> Georgetown University.
>
> But probably the biggest advantage for grocery stores looking at stopping
> accepting checks is the labor savings of taking and processing the checks,
> he said.
>
> Showalter, the Ventura County shopper and frequent check-writer, said he
> understood the rationale but didn't like the policy.
>
> "If I was a shareholder I would say yeah," Showalter said. "But I'm not a
> shareholder, I'm a shopper."
>
> Copyright © 2009, The Los Angeles Times

Many stores in my area, grocery stores, big lot stores, etc., are
accepting checks in the same way they accept debit cards - when you
write a check, the money comes directly out of your account as a
debit, and the cashier returns your check along with the receipt. I
forget what this is called - but it stops the "check float" phenom for
sure.

N.