> The what? I don't know what you're getting at with this.
When I moved to a new place, I couldn't pay for anything with a check because I still had my old address printed on the checks and most stores wouldn't accept checks with an out-of-state address printed on it. This was ~18 years ago, so things may be different.
I don't know about the out of state address part, but it would probably be pretty painful in general to go around stores in the US and try to pay by check these days. Some large stores probably would have the systems to handle it but it wouldn't be normal and would cause a lot of friction. Absent a credit/debit card, you'd be better off just using cash which wouldn't be normal either but would be widely accepted.
> Some large stores probably would have the systems to handle it...
What systems to handle it?
The cashier puts the check under the cash tray like you do for $100 bills, and then you toss the check in the cash bag that you send to the bank that night or at the end of the week or whatever, and the bank handles the check.
Electronic check readers to take advantage of the Check 21 rules. I'm not sure how many places still have them but they were a fixture of large store checkouts 20-ish years ago when the rules came out. IIRC Walmart (and probably other stores but I have vague memories of Walmart...) even had a printer they could put a standard check into that printed the front information (date, dollar amount in words and digits, memo) for you.
Huh. In 2006? I also moved around then, and always just crossed out the address and wrote in my new address and no-one ever batted an eyelid. I think I was still doing that until 2014 when I ran out of old chscks!
I guess I was doing it to service providers rather than stores though - most stores would much rather have had a card payment even back then.
2005 actually; I called my credit card company repeatedly to tell them "yes I've moved, charges in $NEW_CITY are not fraudulent, with little luck, so I was stuck paying with a check anywhere that wouldn't take Discover (my second card).
When I moved to a new place, I couldn't pay for anything with a check because I still had my old address printed on the checks and most stores wouldn't accept checks with an out-of-state address printed on it. This was ~18 years ago, so things may be different.