It seems like the topic "War on Cash" has come up a lot lately, but when did alternatives to carrying money (cash) start. Today almost nine in ten households in the U.S. have checking accounts.
People have been writing checks instead of carrying cash for as long as I can remember, even though check writing is becoming less and less every year. When did check writing start?
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Roman Praescriptiones (circa 100 B.C.)
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The Roman equivalent to modern private bankers, Roman argentarii, issued praescriptiones to clients as an early form of checks in 100 B.C.
Middle Eastern Sakk (circa 9th Century)
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Traders in the Middle East transported money more securely using a form of check called a sakk in the 9th century. The sakk was the American Express check of its time. The sakk was a piece of paper drawn against the merchant's account that could be cashed in another country. Maybe their slogan was "Have sakk will travel".
Cashiers Check (1609)
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In 1609 the Wisselbank in Amsterdam used a large scale book-entry payment system. It worked like a cashiers check allowing customers to transfer money between accounts and even to pay bills to creditors.
Banknotes (1853)
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The precursor to the modern day printed check, banknotes, were issued by the Bank of England in 1853.
National Banking Acts (1863-1865)
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With passage of the National Banking Acts by the United States Congress the groundwork was laid for a national check clearing system. This resulted in a surge of checks being used in the United States. Between 1890-1914 due to rapidly improving technology which allowed banks to communicate across states more efficiently, there was an increased use of checks across the nation.
Federal Reserve Act (1913)
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The Federal Reserve Act allowed the Federal Reserve to create a nationwide clearinghouse for checks. In the 1920's the system was widely embraced with over 26 thousand banks across the country clearing checks through the Fed.
From 1939-1952 the number of checking accounts across the United States doubled. In the 1950's banks offered freebies like toasters, coffee makers, crockpots, and blankets to entice more customers to open checking accounts.
The Beginning of the End for Checks
Just as check writing was reaching for its zenith the replacement for check writing was coming into being in 1978 with the passage of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act.
Sources:
The History of the Checking Account