Money Orders popularity?

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted By: car51
Hello folks and have any of you noticed as have I that money orders seem to be on the increase? I pay a few bills this way, and the girlfriend pays her rent this way. Just thought I would mention or ask about it


Various reasons
1) Great way to hide cash income as a bank ends up being a record for taxation purposes. Eg tips, illicit income whatever
2) Some areas and cultures don't trust checks as this is USA thing. A greater trust of these money orders
3) trouble acquiring a bank account due to financial problems
4) cost of money orders has dropped over time. Checking/banking costs at the same time have increased for folks who keep little in terms of balances.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: BRZED
Originally Posted By: Win
Originally Posted By: Alfred_B
Checks can bounce. Money orders do not.

It's a risk management strategy not to take checks.


Since when?

A money order is just a promise to pay, or, in other words, a check. The only difference is the maker.


A money order is paid for, so it can't bounce. If I go with a money order to the bank or post office I know I will get the money. If I take a check, i don't know it won't bounce, unless it's a cashier's check. I have noticed that some people are reluctant to pay with PayPal. Since mailing cash is lllegal, they end up sending a money order or check. If they give me a choice, I ask them to send me a money order.


I will not use Paypal. If buying something online and can't use a card, I will pay with a USPS money order, sent Priority Mail. (That makes screwing me on the transaction felony mail fraud.)

 

[exranger06]

I've used a money order exactly once in my life, and that was to pay the fees for my pistol permit application. The local PD would only accept cashier's check or money order as payment, and a money order was slightly more convenient for me to get, so I paid via money order.

I used a cashier's check exactly once in my life too, and that was for the down payment on my house.

I pay my mortgage online - ACH withdrawal from my checking account, same as the electric bill and cell phone bill.

All other bills get paid via credit card (online), and I pay credit cards off in full every month, and I pay the credit card bills online. Day to day spending is also mostly credit cards, sometimes debit card and only rarely cash for places that don't take cards.

I do still write personal checks often; at least twice a month. Easiest way to pay the garbage man is to mail him a check every month. I borrowed money from my uncle, so I write him a check every month. Sometimes I write a check for a wedding gift or Christmas present. It's the easiest way to pay a friend/family member if I don't have the cash on hand.

 

[bubbatime]

No offense to anyone in this thread, but I'll state some facts here. Poor people, who lack any sort of financial discipline, and make poor choices, pay their bills with money orders. Or checks that they purchase for $1.50/each (WTH?)

You can pay bills absolutely free without paying a single penny or buying a single stamp.

1) Get a free checking account. Tons of them out there.
2) Pay your bills online, either through your banks online bill pay, or through the creditors website. It's 100% free.
3) For anyone that requires a check or money order, pay them through your banks online bill pay. I can pay John Smith $800 in rent every month through my bank, free of charge. Just input his name and address and the bank will mail him a check for you, free of charge. No cost for checks, no cost for envelopes or postage, the bank takes care of it, for free.
4) My bank even gives me free checks. I only use about 5-10 of them a year though as my online bill pay is easier than writing out a check. And its free (see a theme here)
5) Every bill that lets me pay with a credit card, gets paid with a credit card. You see, I get cash back rebates from the credit card companies, to the tune of about $500 a year, just for paying my bills and making my normal purchases.

 

[GrtArtiste]

My job is in marketing research, and one of our big clients is a very large well known BANK. I get to read a lot OF comments about this company and to read them you'd believe they are the worst bank in AMERICA. Of course, I can only read the customer's side of the story and I have no way of knowing what percentage of the problems experienced are actually the customer's own fault. I suspect a lot of people make errors while entering data in their online banking, don't understand or aren't aware of how the bank manages it's online banking system, and make wildly incorrect assumptions about how the bank can or should handle their online transactions. The amount of vile cursing and blasphemy that gets heaped onto this bank must really be seen to be believed.

For myself, I know that when I write a paper check to pay a bill, I can put a stamp on the envelope...drop it through the slot at the PO and know with a 99.9% certainty that it will be delivered within a few days and promptly credited to my account. I've been paying this way for over 40 years without a problem. If I'm concerned about when a payment gets posted, I can either check my bank's site or the merchant's site and deal with a problem if one does exist. The worst thing I might have to deal with is a late fee. I know I WON'T have to deal with my money disappearing into the electronic ether or that sinking feeling of wondering when or how it will be refunded...dealing with unknowledgeable cubicle drones who can't or won't correct errors...or the outrageous fees the bank will charge to deal with the problem. Online banking in general still needs a lot of improvement before I'll trust it, and I suspect I'll be pushing up daisies before that happens.

GrtArtiste

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted By: GrtArtiste
My job is in marketing research, and one of our big clients is a very large well known BANK. I get to read a lot OF comments about this company and to read them you'd believe they are the worst bank in AMERICA. Of course, I can only read the customer's side of the story and I have no way of knowing what percentage of the problems experienced are actually the customer's own fault. I suspect a lot of people make errors while entering data in their online banking, don't understand or aren't aware of how the bank manages it's online banking system, and make wildly incorrect assumptions about how the bank can or should handle their online transactions. The amount of vile cursing and blasphemy that gets heaped onto this bank must really be seen to be believed.

For myself, I know that when I write a paper check to pay a bill, I can put a stamp on the envelope...drop it through the slot at the PO and know with a 99.9% certainty that it will be delivered within a few days and promptly credited to my account. I've been paying this way for over 40 years without a problem. If I'm concerned about when a payment gets posted, I can either check my bank's site or the merchant's site and deal with a problem if one does exist. The worst thing I might have to deal with is a late fee. I know I WON'T have to deal with my money disappearing into the electronic ether or that sinking feeling of wondering when or how it will be refunded...dealing with unknowledgeable cubicle drones who can't or won't correct errors...or the outrageous fees the bank will charge to deal with the problem. Online banking in general still needs a lot of improvement before I'll trust it, and I suspect I'll be pushing up daisies before that happens.

GrtArtiste


I've had checks lost in the mail, never had an online transaction lost so far. It's way easier once you set it up. Takes less than a minute to pay a bill, no stamp, no envelope, no trip to the post office/mailbox (stories of people fishing out checks in the mailbox are out there).

 

[Malo83]

Wife still pays the bills with checks, hate dealing with money so she is the designated Financial Officer here

 

[BRZED]

Just today I came acoss an online scale model shop where they do not accept credit cards:

Payment can be made by checks and money orders (sorry, no credit cards).

 

[Gasbuggy]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Many people are "unbanked" and don't trust banks, therefore they need a way to send money without using a bank. Here, in Cincinnati, most of the bigger banks charge a LOT for the privilege of having a checking account, unless you have a substantial amount of $ in savings or CDs, etc. A credit union is usually a better deal, usually a box of checks every 3 or 4 years is all I have to pay for.



People also use money orders for things to keep their bank balance below 3k so dat welfare check keeps coming in.

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
No offense to anyone in this thread, but I'll state some facts here. Poor people, who lack any sort of financial discipline, and make poor choices, pay their bills with money orders. Or checks that they purchase for $1.50/each (WTH?)

You can pay bills absolutely free without paying a single penny or buying a single stamp.

1) Get a free checking account. Tons of them out there.
2) Pay your bills online, either through your banks online bill pay, or through the creditors website. It's 100% free.
3) For anyone that requires a check or money order, pay them through your banks online bill pay. I can pay John Smith $800 in rent every month through my bank, free of charge. Just input his name and address and the bank will mail him a check for you, free of charge. No cost for checks, no cost for envelopes or postage, the bank takes care of it, for free.
4) My bank even gives me free checks. I only use about 5-10 of them a year though as my online bill pay is easier than writing out a check. And its free (see a theme here)
5) Every bill that lets me pay with a credit card, gets paid with a credit card. You see, I get cash back rebates from the credit card companies, to the tune of about $500 a year, just for paying my bills and making my normal purchases.


Ditto on all this.
The only time that I ever used a money order was when the state of Ohio required that the fee for renewing a teaching or administrative credential be sent by money order. The irony of it was that the fee was $2.00 and the money order cost 46 cents.
Now the fee is $200. and they don't really care how they get it (except no credit cards.)