Why do people pay money to cash their checks?

People come into my work and pay $3 dollars to cash their checks. I do not understand why anyone would pay $3 dollars to cash their hard earned paychecks. That’s more than 12 dollars per month. That’s enough to buy yourself a gym membership where i live or a netflix account. I have bank accounts at 3 banks and they all happily accept my paychecks. Are these people running from the banks (garnishments) or something?


7 Responses to “Why do people pay money to cash their checks?”

  1. First Level Manager Says:

    Some people are denied to open a new checking account from banks from previous mistakes made with thier bank accounts in the past so they have to pay to cash them. I deal with this issue from not maintaining a good checking account.

    Mike
    http://www.Forex-Publishing.com

  2. justwondering Says:

    Possibly – or don’t know how to handle a bank account – or never have enough money to fund a bank account. It is sad isn’t it. Someone once complained that the “rich get richer” and “money breeds money”. Both are partly true – if you have a big bag of money the bank will bend over backwards and waive all sorts of fees. If you haven’t got a pot then it costs you $3. just to cash your check. I would look around for someplace free – even asking my employer to make an arrangement with the bank my check is drawn on to waive the fees for the employees.

  3. Carolyn R Says:

    They could have bad credit . They might not trust the people at the bank with their hard earn money. They might not have a drivers license. Or a social security card for Id purposes..

  4. Steven L Says:

    as for not understanding why people would pay $3 to cash a cheque i dont understand either! you haven’t said what type of place you work in it’s hard to answer, but the argument for not paying into a bank account…
    * people dont have a bank account – unable to get one
    * the bank may charge more for cashing a cheque
    * your company may give the money sooner
    * people may have problems with their account (paying a cheque into it may just be swallowed up in an unagreed overdraft)
    * they dont want the bank to see it (ie if you have a loan with a bank and a current account – im writing from UK law but the bank has the power to transfer any credits from the current account to loan if the customer has breached the agreement)
    * you may be closer than their branch

  5. Richard R Says:

    In the UK it takes three to five working days for a check to clear.
    If you have no money it a long time to wait.

  6. Laissez-Faire Guy Says:

    I never understood why some people just don’t have bank accounts. They’re scared of them or something. So instead, they live on a cash basis, paying to cash checks and paying more for money orders and the like.

    Absolute silliness if you ask me.

  7. Antonia R Says:

    Someof them may live paycheck to paycheck and don’t want to wait 5 business days for money. Some are denied for opening a bank account because they owe a bank money.

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