On Thu, 7 Jun 2012 20:25:42 +0100, Janet > wrote:

>In article >, Brooklyn1 says...
>>
> Most people incur a fee with a personal check.
>
> Must be an American thing; no fees are payable for bank cheques here (so
>long as the account is in credit).
>
>
> Janet UK

I don't know what you mean by "the account is in credit"... here in
the US a checking account is required to maintain a minimum balance or
the account will be closed, but still folks have to buy their check
books and pay the bank a fee per check used. Because of the fees
fewer and fewer people have checking accounts anymore, they've
switched to plastic and the occasional money order. The only
exception I know of to have free checking is if one maintains a rather
large minimum bank balance. Also a lot of people have stopped using
checking accounts because they are lousy at handling money so use
debit accounts instead... in the US writing a check with insufficient
funds (passing a bad check) is a serious criminal offence, they can go
to prison. Attempting to make a purchase with insufficient funds in a
debit account simply cancels/blocks the sale at point of purchase and
stuff has to be put back. I hate to be on the checkout line behind
debiters (debters).