<story><title>The Long Shadow of Checks</title><url>https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/the-long-shadow-of-checks/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>e63f67dd-065b</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m continually surprised by the political influence held by the thousands of tiny banks in the country. I must applaud the people behind the Check 21 Act: it&amp;#x27;s the combination of a neat backwards compatibility trick (if you want paper, we&amp;#x27;ll print it and send it to you) and political maneuvering that I must admire it.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Since the standard U.S. bank account is a checking account, even if it cannot write checks, it is necessarily a credit product.&lt;p&gt;Why is this the case? Checking accounts without the ability to overdraft and thus create credit risk exist; I&amp;#x27;ve always wondered why they&amp;#x27;re not more widespread. Is it a problem that people who are Chex blacklisted are unprofitable anyways?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>digging</author><text>&amp;gt; I&amp;#x27;ve always wondered why they&amp;#x27;re not more widespread&lt;p&gt;Historically, it&amp;#x27;s a major source of revenue for banks[1]. I used to use BOA, when I switched to a local credit union they at least offered me the choice of &amp;quot;overdraft protection,&amp;quot; which obviously I declined.&lt;p&gt;Fortunately, overdraft fees appear to be growing less profitable[2], so hopefully banks will phase them out.&lt;p&gt;[1] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.consumerfinance.gov&amp;#x2F;about-us&amp;#x2F;newsroom&amp;#x2F;cfpb-research-shows-banks-deep-dependence-on-overdraft-fees&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.consumerfinance.gov&amp;#x2F;about-us&amp;#x2F;newsroom&amp;#x2F;cfpb-resea...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;[2] &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.consumerfinance.gov&amp;#x2F;data-research&amp;#x2F;research-reports&amp;#x2F;banks-overdraft-nsf-fee-revenue-declines-significantly-compared-to-pre-pandemic-levels&amp;#x2F;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow noreferrer&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.consumerfinance.gov&amp;#x2F;data-research&amp;#x2F;research-repor...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>The Long Shadow of Checks</title><url>https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/the-long-shadow-of-checks/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>e63f67dd-065b</author><text>I&amp;#x27;m continually surprised by the political influence held by the thousands of tiny banks in the country. I must applaud the people behind the Check 21 Act: it&amp;#x27;s the combination of a neat backwards compatibility trick (if you want paper, we&amp;#x27;ll print it and send it to you) and political maneuvering that I must admire it.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Since the standard U.S. bank account is a checking account, even if it cannot write checks, it is necessarily a credit product.&lt;p&gt;Why is this the case? Checking accounts without the ability to overdraft and thus create credit risk exist; I&amp;#x27;ve always wondered why they&amp;#x27;re not more widespread. Is it a problem that people who are Chex blacklisted are unprofitable anyways?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>davidw</author><text>&amp;gt; political influence held by the thousands of tiny banks in the country&lt;p&gt;Car dealerships are pretty bad too.</text></comment>