Not Negotiable
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (339930)
Rockingham, Australia
November 24, 2020 2:29am CST
I won’t insult your intelligence asking if you know what this is but I’ll tell you anyway. It’s a ‘Not Negotiable’ stamp.
In the days before credit/debit cards, it was common to pay accounts and bills by cheque/check. If a cheque was ‘crossed’, by stamping or writing ‘not negotiable’ across it, then the money could only be paid into the account (or the hand) of the person named on the cheque.
We gave up our cheque account when we realised we’d only written one cheque over a 12-month period. Practices change very quickly sometimes. Does anyone still have a cheque account? I’m sure they haven’t gone out altogether.
37 people like this
39 responses
@topffer (42156)
• France
24 Nov 20
Yes, I pay a few bills by cheques and it is the usual way people are paying rents or big purchases here. All cheques are by law cross printed in France since the early 1980's, but I remember the time when we had to do it by hand. I don't remember an equivalent of your "Not Negotiable" stamp.
6 people like this
@JudyEv (339930)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Nov 20
Very few of our acquaintances have cheque books nowadays. Most pay by card or online by bank transfer. Our last few cheque books had 'not negotiable' printed on the cheques.
@JudyEv (339930)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Nov 20
@myklj999 If you cashed a cheque at a bank, they kept the cheque. An 'open' cheque wasn't crossed and anyone could cash it. I think a crossed cheque was supposed to only be paid into an account but cash could be handed over on presentation of an open cheque.
@Juliaacv (51190)
• Canada
24 Nov 20
We have to have the word 'void' across a cheque in order for it to allow the funds to be deposited into the account.
We still have chequing accounts. The advantage to having a chequing account for everyday purchases, bill payments and pre-authorized transfers (mortgage payments, loan and car payments) is that these accounts allow for more transactions. Our savings accounts are true savings accounts and although there is no monthly fee associated with them, they usually only come with 1, if any, transactions. Other transactions are charged at over a dollar each.
5 people like this
@snowy22315 (180663)
• United States
24 Nov 20
I do have a checking account but I rarely use it. it is kind of a back up measure of the debit card doesn't work for some reason. I seem to write about 1 check per month.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (339930)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Nov 20
It's certainly useful as a back-up. We used to pay everything by cheque once.
@allen0187 (58582)
• Philippines
24 Nov 20
I still have one and I use it to issue cheques to pay for my mortgage. I usually give a year's worth of cheques to my bank.
1 person likes this
@allen0187 (58582)
• Philippines
25 Nov 20
@JudyEv true.
There are still businesses and services that require post-dated cheques to be issued before they deal with clients.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (339930)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Nov 20
@allen0187 Really? I guess it's like an insurance for them - except that cheques can bounce.
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
25 Nov 20
yes ma'am, i'd still be a check writer. our local utilities 've a $3 charge fer usin' a debit card, which adds 'p o'er time. i've 'free' checkin', 'long with 'free' checks.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39509)
• United States
25 Nov 20
@JudyEv i jest can't give 'em those $3 'xtra dollars e'ery month, seems ridiculous? so, i jest write checks. do yer utilities charge ya 'xtra fer usin' yer card? e'en the motor vehicle, county taxes charge a fee fer such.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (339930)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Nov 20
@crazyhorseladycx I don't think so but we haven't written a cheque now for a few years.
1 person likes this
@DeborahDiane (40292)
• Laguna Woods, California
24 Nov 20
@JudyEv - Yes, I still have a checking account, but rarely write a check. It is the account that my debit card is also attached to, so I can occasionally write a check, if I need to.
Paying bills has become so much easier. Most of my bills are not auto-paid electronically. I just make sure there is always enough money deposited into the account so the bills can be paid!
2 people like this
@DeborahDiane (40292)
• Laguna Woods, California
25 Nov 20
@JudyEv - Yes, I log my payments into a ledger, so I know that the correct amounts have been paid. However, it is nice to do everything electronically. I rarely go inside a bank anymore. My bank is a very large, two story-building. The teller told me last summer, when I went inside, that they only had 3 bank employees plus a security guard working there, now. All that space for only 4 people!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (339930)
• Rockingham, Australia
25 Nov 20
@DeborahDiane Times have changed so much. Vince started work in a bank and there were a lot of staff in those days.
1 person likes this
@JESSY3236 (19949)
• United States
24 Nov 20
I do and I'm glad I had some checks on hand. Someone stole my debit card number and I had to use a check to pay for my first mammogram appt.
2 people like this
@JESSY3236 (19949)
• United States
1 Dec 20
@JudyEv The debit card was put on hold.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (339930)
• Rockingham, Australia
24 Nov 20
I guess you're not old enough to remember when nobody had debit or credit cards. lol
@DaddyEvil (137257)
• United States
24 Nov 20
I still have and use my checking account. My paychecks are deposited into it automatically. Money from PayPal also deposits into my checking account automatically. I use my check book to pay all our bills, buy groceries, pay for gas for the car... I rarely carry cash and don't use credit cards.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137257)
• United States
25 Nov 20
@JudyEv Yeah, most people here only use cards, too. I usually have to explain how to run my check through a register at Walmart when it is a newbie running the register. (Pretty gets paid for her online work with Walmart gift cards, so I carry those with me when I can.)
1 person likes this
@arunima25 (87806)
• Bangalore, India
24 Nov 20
We don't use it much but we still use cheques once in a while. We cross the cheques in left corner and write A/C payee to ensure that the amount is paid only to account or person named there. 
1 person likes this
