What payment methods do you use?

Posted by Status_Block591@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 66 comments

When we started dating (less than 10 years ago) my wife still wrote checks to pay her bills, which I thought was absurd. Checks to me have long been an anachronism I associate with boomers, like having a landline. But today I went into Walmart and they didn't accept touch less payment with my phone and I realized that's pretty much exclusively how I pay for shit now. Credit cards are now anachronistic too. I have physical credit cards in my man-purse but I never use them and if a place doesn't accept Google pay then for the most part they just don't get my money. The only things I use cash for is Powerball when the jackpot is big, tooth fairy money and getting a cart from Aldi. I don't have any checks anymore, if I need to pay for something by check I have to go to the bank. It's just a weird evolution in myself I just noticed.

So what method do you guys use to pay for stuff? Is it a generational thing or just the way things are?

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Brad_enn@reddit

kinda same here lol. i used to be all about cards n paypal but after a few holds + random limits i just stopped trusting em. these days i mostly use p2p apps or gift cards when i trade online, feels simpler. been on Qvani lately for that kinda stuff, way less stress than banks tbh.

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RaspberryVespa@reddit

You still need check routing numbers to pay a lot of bills online, especially when it’s free for ACH draft but a fee to pay by credit card. A lot of contractors and landscapers will only take cash or check. Checks still have their place in the world.

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legalpretzel@reddit

It’s the contractors who always catch me scrambling to find my check book to pay them. You’d think they’d move to square payments or something, but I’m guessing they like the ability to tweak their income on their taxes.

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IIFireMissionII@reddit

I use a check to pay the utility bill. I refuse to pay the 3% charge to pay online.

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SpaceLemur34@reddit

I use Apple pay on my watch for everything. The only times the physical card comes out are at sit down restaurants and Wal-Mart. Although I find Walmart odd because that was the first place I saw that actually used chip readers for cards.

I carry cash, but use it so rarely that I've had the same bills in my wallet for over a year.

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kitsplut@reddit

I flat out refuse to put any payment information on my phone. CPA with technology background.

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Melechesh@reddit

Agreed. I don't even like saving my credit card info on websites.

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itriedicant@reddit

Big difference saving it to your phone vs a website

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sexwiththebabysitter@reddit

Isn’t using Apple Pay safer than using a card?

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Thatoneguyfrom1980@reddit

Yes. Google and Apple Pay are actually safer than using a credit card

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Eric848448@reddit

I think I have the same $12 in my wallet that I’ve had there since some time last year.

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Yrch1@reddit

I write checks when possible for bills. Other than that credit card. Unless it's a local place for whiskey, that's cash.

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elphaba00@reddit

If I'm buying something off my phone (food or shopping app), it's definitely Apple Pay. It's debit card for everything else. I have a $10 bill just hanging out in my wallet forever.

It was a whole new world when I discovered that I could use my phone for wireless pay.

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indigocherry@reddit

Physical cards. I'm not having a bunch of machines scanning my phone. Call that a boomer take if you will but while I buy stuff online all the time, I do not trust the machines at places where I shop.

I pay a lot of bills with e-checks but do still write 3 physical checks a year: my car tag renewal, county taxes, and city taxes. I do that because it's the only payment method that doesn't charge an additional 3-5% convenience fee. My taxes are high enough as it is...I'm not paying an extra 5% just to pay online via card.

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Spartan04@reddit

I still write one or two checks a year since there are occasionally things that it’s still the easiest way. I don’t carry a checkbook or anything like my mom did but I have it available at home.

Mostly I use credit cards, though a combination of Apple Pay and the actual physical card. Plenty of places I shop at don’t accept contactless and it’s not a big deal to get the actual card out of my wallet if I need to.

I hardly ever use cash. I do keep some in my wallet just in case and will use cash if I go to the casino since that’s cash only.

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tehdamonkey@reddit

I do cash as a budgetary control. I get cash at the bank on payday and that is my allowance for the month of pocket money for food, groceries, etc... If It is gone I am SOL until next payday,

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More-read-than-eddit@reddit

i tap with my card but that’s largely because i am never really certain credit card points would code properly if i use apple pay (and not every place has that functionality). at whole foods i do the fun thing where i put my hand over the reader.

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aweedl@reddit

Just a regular bank card/debit/Interac/whatever you want to call it. Sometimes cash. I refuse to use credit cards, so I almost never make online purchases.

Apparently the U.S. has a slightly different system (they don’t have e-transfers??) so here, for reference, is what I use in Canada: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interac

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psilosophist@reddit

US definitely has etransfers, you can use something like Zelle to send money directly from one bank account to another.

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aweedl@reddit

You need a third-party app, though, right? Isn’t that what Zelle is?

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psilosophist@reddit

It's built right into my bank app.

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DJSfromthe1900s@reddit

I still mail checks for paying bills that don't have online pay systems. I pay cash for small items in retail if I have it on me, and usually otherwise use my physical card despite having it also set up on my phone. I resisted putting my card on my phone until recently because it always just seemed like another security fail point to me. The more places my card is stored the more likely it will get hacked.

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eat_like_snake@reddit

Still? Debit.
Before? Cash or, in the case of like rent and shit, money order. I was never a checks person. Or a credit card person.

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psilosophist@reddit

You don't have to carry credit card debt. I use my card for all payments, and just pay off the balance every month. Gets me cash back and discounts (just used some rewards points to pay a good chunk of a vacation next week). And not only that, if there's ever a dispute, it's so much easier to get money back from a credit card company than it is a bank.

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GreenApples8710@reddit

I write one check a month because it's the only method of payment our water company takes (how, in the year of our Lord 2025 that's possible, I don't know).

I carry cash for convenience/incidentals - the occasional coffee or energy drink, quick grab and go snack, etc. Everything else goes to the credit card.

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psilosophist@reddit

Set up a payment in your bank app, if the place only takes a paper check the bank will physically print one out and send it to them, but chances are the water company can absolutely take ACH deposits, they just don't want to deal with the billing so they outsource it to another company.

At my old place the city water bill was check or cash only, but I never had a problem just writing a "virtual" check instead.

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sexwiththebabysitter@reddit

Pay my water and sewer bills with a check. Can pay online but there’s a fee that I refuse to pay.

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slademccoy47@reddit

All our bills auto-charge a credit card, or auto-deduct a checking account. All in person purchases are on the credit card so we get flyer miles. Even the mom n pop stalls at the farmer's market take cards now.

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Bas_van_der_werff@reddit

Check and credit card never really been a thing here

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Appropriate-Food1757@reddit

I don’t even have checks, I go to the bank for one if I encounter a weird that needs a checks.

My preference is to pay with my Bonvoy credit card.

I even tip with Venmo now.

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FunksGroove@reddit

We use credit cards to get rewards as much as we can. We pay those off each month of course. Have used points to get multiple free flights for our families.

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pixienightingale@reddit

We have checks for business reasons, but use Venmo and Zelle a lot for things. We also have credit cards and use tap payments when available. And currently I've got some cash on hand.

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Available-Mud-4095@reddit

Totally agree! Contactless has ruined me for anything else. Even for client work, I just send payment links now instead of invoices. Feels like everything’s moving toward instant, low-friction payments. You know, stuff like Apple Pay, Google Pay, or even platforms like PayFunnels for business payments. Physical cards just feel… old school now.

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bloody_snowman@reddit

Pretty much the same. Been a couple years since I last wrote a check. I love using Apple Pay on my watch. Most convenient thing in the world.

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Deathgripsugar@reddit

If I need a paper trail, or want to skip fees, checks. If I need to tip, cash. Everything else: tap to pay.

I use Venmo sometimes as well but only to friends.

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Tamsha-@reddit

some places only allow payment by check weirdly enough. I had to pay to update my last name for a state license for work and it was the only way. Glad I had a few left!

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SorryForPartying6T9@reddit

I just started using my phone to pay for stuff. I stuck to physical cards for way longer than I needed to. Haven’t written a check in at least a decade

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unbalancedcentrifuge@reddit

I use a credit card for everything....never ever ever my debit card because that is way too dangerous. I dont touch pay...but that is probably because I always had a crapoy phone.

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LiGuangMing1981@reddit

AliPay and WeChat Pay are pretty much the only things I use.

I use PayPal very occasionally when paying for things online.

Cash and cards pretty much never. I don't even have a credit card (though my wife does, so I might use that on a very rare occasion when I need something online and they don't accept PayPal).

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Konnorwolf@reddit

Debit, tap.

Walmart is so full of themselves that they had to make their own payment system that NO one wants to use. Get with the program and use Apple Pay or Google/Samsung/Whatever pay.

I've never really used checked aside from bills in the past before everyone had online pay.

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bh0@reddit

I have to write a check twice / year to the town for taxes or pay a 3% credit card fee. So, they get checks.

I'm all for touch-less payments, but in the US it's maybe 50/50 still if the place supports it yet. Tons of places still only support the chip-insert method, and the occasional place still needs to swipe.

I've finally come around to linking a credit card to Google Pay. Visiting somewhere like Canada is basically 100% tap-to-pay and it's just easier to use your phone. You basically never need to get your card out. Their transit system/payments is also very integrated into your phones too. I have not have any issues using my credit card through Google Pay.

I always keep some cash for those times when it's just easier, or the place is shady, or whenever.

I still refuse to have any bank/investment account apps on my phone.

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PilotC150@reddit

Apple Pay as much as possible.

I have checks but rarely use them, except for one monthly payment that has to be a check.

I still keep credit cards in my wallet, but could probably just have two (one primary and one backup) to keep my wallet thinner.

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Flashy-Share8186@reddit

my last apartment charged $3 to use electronic bill pay and zero for checks, so I still have a big pile of checks. I don’t want anything on my phone, considering how easy it is to lose it or have it lifted, so I stick to credit cards. The homeless panhandlers around here take Venmo or PayPal. which I find mind boggling.

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Any-Baseball-6766@reddit

Checks

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Slight_Second1963@reddit

My watch or card

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thatotherguy57@reddit

I use my card. Typically tap, but chip if there is no tap option. I usually carry a little cash, just in case, like a few weeks ago when I went to Waffle House and their point-of-sale system was down, which forced me to use cash. I don't use my phone to pay. It may be convenient, but I'm paranoid of losing my accounts if it gets stolen. The last check I wrote was for a car payment 8 years ago.

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poodog13@reddit

I don’t write checks often, but just not even having checks at home seems irresponsible to me. Why not get a small supply rather than not having the when you need them?

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Colossus-of-Roads@reddit

I remember the last time I used a cheque, it was to buy a bicycle back in 2007 and it felt anachronistic even then.

The US seems to have persisted in their use a lot longer than most countries!

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red286@reddit

I still use cheques to pay my rent, but that's because I don't trust those fuckers with automated debit payments and the building manager for whatever fucking reason is never in his office on the 1st and then tries to hit me with a $20 late fee if I try to pay by debit.

Most of my bills are automated debit payments.

If I'm buying something, it's always on my VISA debit card.

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erindizmo@reddit

One check a month for rent, aside from that mostly apple pay or physical cards if that's not doable.

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Possible-Tangelo9344@reddit

Mainly Apple pay. If not then I use a physical card.

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Moxie_Stardust@reddit

Credit cards, cash, and I write 4 checks per year for HOA dues because it costs $12 to pay online so I'm being petty by mailing checks instead of using my bank's bill payment service. I might stop when I run out of checks but that will take years and years.

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Li-RM35M4419@reddit

Cash is king

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MarkedByCrows@reddit

I still use checks when it's the one payment method that doesn't add on some damn convenience or processing fee, or counts as "cash discount" when those fees are built into the price. Landscapers, contractors, daycare, tuition fees, etc. All pay by check and will keep doing so as long as its the cheapest option.

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Melechesh@reddit

I haven't written a check in a decade or more. I mainly use credit cards(gotta get them points) and pay them off every month. I rarely use cash or debit.

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RabbitNumber8@reddit

I’ve also switched to Apple Pay almost exclusively. My state also allows you to put your drivers license in your apple wallet, so I have no real need to carry a wallet/purse anymore for quick trips. I do actually have a checkbook, though, because I had to pay for parking with it at my last job and occasionally I need checks for school things like field trips. It’s actually easier because I never have cash on me for stuff like that. I’m generally very resistant to new tech and have a landline phone in my mid century living room, but this is just such an easy way to pay. Also. If I lose my phone I can lock it down. Losing your wallet is so much more of a pain in the ass.

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Colambler@reddit

As someone who doesn't own a house, most of my rental payments have been Venmo.

I still use physical credit cards mainly.

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ILustForVolcan0@reddit

I trade my wares for good and services

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sundayfunday78@reddit

I cut cheques for some payments at work, but use debit, credit or cash personally. Not comfortable with Apple Pay just yet. I do pay rent with an e-transfer. My bills are auto-debited or charged to my CC.

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Traditional_Entry183@reddit

We pay most bills though our banking app. Technically a check, but not a written one, sent from the bank to the utility.

For every day stuff, I use a credit card. But I also carry cash just in case. I have no desire to pay using my phone.

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