The Fed could kill checks but isn’t. the 19th century checks business is not just embarrassing but hugely inefficient and harmful for the economy.

IFT — the ability for me to pay you, and for you to receive the funds within minutes, rather than having to wait until the following business day — is already a fact of life in many countries around the world, from India to the UK. Where it doesn’t already exist, you can be pretty sure that someone is working hard on a plan to make it happen. Except in the US, where no one seems to have even started the process yet.

checks, just like smallpox, can be eradicated. the obvious way is to slap a surcharge on them to reflect the true cost.

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