Denmark to stop delivering letters

[Pieter12]

The U.S post office does the same thing, new town homes, condo, apartments have clusters of boxes.

In my brother's case, it is an individual house in a moderately dense suburban neighborhood.

 

[MattKing]

The U.S post office does the same thing, new town homes, condo, apartments have clusters of boxes.

Same here - and "new" now includes the last decades of development.
However, the clusters of boxes are still in near neighbourhoods. I predict even fewer and more distant distribution centres.

 

[Sirius Glass]

There has been ongoing talks to privatize the U.S mail and let market forces dictate price. We pay about 1/3 of our bills by mail, but could pay most if not all by electronic transfer. Other option under consideration would be mail delivery 3 times week rather than 6, but states with large rural populations depend on the mail. That may change as 5G internet services is becoming more reliable and at a price that is less than most fiber optic internet. The U.S post makes money with bulk mail and package delivery, loses money on flat mail.

I pay my bills for the most part by check. That cuts down on the ability of others to hack my accounts.

 

[BradS]

It's always ... well, sometimes, mostly ... interesting to see how threads diverge from the original topic. Nothing wrong with that, and often enough quite the opposite in my opinion.

I don't think I've paid for checks since the original two boxes I got when I opened my first checking account, long time ago when I was 18 y.o. I've always just ordered the standard, boring, plain blue or tan checks and they come in the mail for free. Maybe had to pay postage here and there.

Except to pay my income taxes, I don't use checks at all any more - not for a long time. The bank pays all my regular monthly bills for me according to my instructions - even the very small local company that sprays the bugs. All on-line purchases and all in-person retail purchases go on a card. I usually do carry a bit of cash - for small family owned restaurants and thrift stores and sometimes a lot of cash to buy gas (many places charge an extra 10 cents per gallon if you pay with plastic).

Speaking of buying gas and not using checks, I remember visiting a friend in Minnesota some 40 or so years ago and even then being astounded that he could pay for gasoline with a check. No way you could have paid for gas with a check here in California back then. The big chain grocery stores and department stores reluctantly took checks, and some liquor stores still accepted checks back then. I don't remember many other retail places that accepted checks.

... back on topic, I've had a PO box everyplace I've lived since college so, I guess if the USPS stopped home delivery, I wouldn't notice or care - actually, I think, in many ways, it would be a very good thing.

 

[Pieter12]

I pay my bills for the most part by check. That cuts down on the ability of others to hack my accounts.

There was a case not long ago in the Los Angeles area of thieves targeting post offices, making off with checks that they manually altered and cashed. So much for avoiding hacking by writing checks and mailing them.

 

[BradS]

There was a case not long ago in the Los Angeles area of thieves targeting post offices, making off with checks that they manually altered and cashed. So much for avoiding hacking by writing checks and mailing them.

it's apparently quite common - to the point that I get repeatedly told by the bank to NOT send checks in the mail.

 

[Don_ih]

I've been working though the stack of cheques I got back in 1994. I think I have over half of them left. I haven't used one in years.

Every new subdivision around here (Ontario) gets a bank of mail boxes for mail delivery. Only the older neighbourhoods and rural routes get home delivery. And even some of the older neighbourhoods have a bank of boxes. My house is 55 years old and doesn't get to-the-door mail. I do get parcels delivered at times but often have to go to a pick-up location to get them.

 

[MattKing]

I don't think I've paid for checks since the original two boxes I got when I opened my first checking account, long time a go when I was 18 y.o. I've always just ordered the standard, boring, plain blue or tan checks and they come in the mail for free. Maybe had to pay postage here and there.

I don't know of a Canadian financial institution that still offers free personal cheques. Possibly there are high service charge accounts that do, but I'd be surprised.
And none of the financial institutions actually transfer physical cheques any more, save some very expensive special purpose exceptions. Cheques are now scanned when deposited, the originals destroyed, and the scanned images are what go back and forth.
As most people don't deposit cheques physically any more - they scan them using their cel phone banking apps - financial institutions are more likely to insist on longer hold times and/or charge handling fees.
The digital imaging of cheques means that they are at least as vulnerable to scams as digital payment systems - probably more so - given the personal details and signatures and banking information on them.
All of which is relevant to the original thread subject, in as much as being another example of how the physical delivery of documents is much less common or necessary that when the postal service focused on home delivery.
The postal disruption in Canada last year meant that for the first time since my wife and I became a couple - a few decades ago - we didn't mail Christmas cards. We delivered some directly to those we met up with. In the last few years, the number of cards we have received has dwindled from dozens to hardly any.

 

[lecarp]

Given that our new government is seeking to privatize every possible aspect, I see Amazon mail or prime mail if you want free (with commercials) delivery with a yearly membership.

 

[BradS]

I don't know of a Canadian financial institution that still offers free personal cheques. Possibly there are high service charge accounts that do, but I'd be surprised.

Most of the big banks here waive most or all fees if you have payroll auto-deposit or a mortgage with the same bank or have a shit ton of money on deposit with the institution.

 

[Pieter12]

Given that our new government is seeking to privatize every possible aspect, I see Amazon mail or prime mail if you want free (with commercials) delivery with a yearly membership.

I rather think snail mail will disappear entirely. Packages will be delivered by courier or shipping firms, everything else would be electronic. Bills paid directly from the bank or by credit/debit card. Things like greeting cards would be replaced by e-cards. Most of this is or has happened already. Pretty much the only physical mail I get besides packages is junk mail and some bills--that I already get by e-mail anyway.

 

[wiltw]

The U.S post office does the same thing, new town homes, condo, apartments have clusters of boxes.

Leading to a bounty for theives, who rob postmen of their master keys that open the whole blank of mailboxes, so they can steal mail from dozens of addresses with one easy open and later tamper with checks.
Our eldest daughter lives in such a complex of townhomes, and their collective mailboxes have been robbed on multiple occasions. It would be so much less tamper-prone if each resident's had a mail slot!

 

[Paul Howell]

You are right.

 

[Sirius Glass]

There was a case not long ago in the Los Angeles area of thieves targeting post offices, making off with checks that they manually altered and cashed. So much for avoiding hacking by writing checks and mailing them.

Several years ago by my girlfriend and I had California DMV stickers stolen from the same post office building. Less can be stolen through checks than if I were hacked through any of the internet or electronic systems. I am minimizing my target areas.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I don't know of a Canadian financial institution that still offers free personal cheques. Possibly there are high service charge accounts that do, but I'd be surprised.
And none of the financial institutions actually transfer physical cheques any more, save some very expensive special purpose exceptions. Cheques are now scanned when deposited, the originals destroyed, and the scanned images are what go back and forth.
As most people don't deposit cheques physically any more - they scan them using their cel phone banking apps - financial institutions are more likely to insist on longer hold times and/or charge handling fees.
The digital imaging of cheques means that they are at least as vulnerable to scams as digital payment systems - probably more so - given the personal details and signatures and banking information on them.
All of which is relevant to the original thread subject, in as much as being another example of how the physical delivery of documents is much less common or necessary that when the postal service focused on home delivery.
The postal disruption in Canada last year meant that for the first time since my wife and I became a couple - a few decades ago - we didn't mail Christmas cards. We delivered some directly to those we met up with. In the last few years, the number of cards we have received has dwindled from dozens to hardly any.

Most of the big banks here waive most or all fees if you have payroll auto-deposit or a mortgage with the same bank or have a shit ton of money on deposit with the institution.

My credit union offers free checking.

 

[Pieter12]

Several years ago by my girlfriend and I had California DMV stickers stolen from the same post office building. Less can be stolen through checks than if I were hacked through any of the internet or electronic systems. I am minimizing my target areas.

I would think that by instructing your bank to transfer funds to pay your bills would be relatively safe, other than giving your bank information to the various companies you need to pay. If any one of those companies gets hacked and your bank information is taken, the doors are wide open. If the bank gets hacked you're in deep shit, but the bank should be responsible for that.

 

[Sirius Glass]

I would think that by instructing your bank to transfer funds to pay your bills would be relatively safe, other than giving your bank information to the various companies you need to pay. If any one of those companies gets hacked and your bank information is taken, the doors are wide open. If the bank gets hacked you're in deep shit, but the bank should be responsible for that.

I agree. Now we go to AAA tp get the license renewals done and they hand us the the DMV state license plate tag.

 

[foc]

In Ireland and most EU countries, the cheque is no longer used. The majority of payments are made electronically, either by debit or credit card in retail outlets or online (secure encrypted).

Payment can also be made electronically from bank to bank. I can give the payor my Bick and Iban number. These are my account details. They can then make the payment electronically TO my account. They CAN NOT withdraw money from my account.

When I make an electronic payment, on line or through the bank app, the payment needs to be verified by my personal pin number and also by a confirmation code sent to me by text. The bank software also notices if an unusual transaction should occur.

Electronic bank transfer is very safe.

 

[xkaes]

Just checked...my bank a major one in US... $27 for 50 checks. Independent check ordering services less than half that...why the guy at the bank told my wife to get them at Costco!

I've used VERSACHECK software to print my own checks since the last Millenium -- basically for free. There's probably free check printing software that can be downloaded on the WEB.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I talk to my letter carrier frequently and he loves his job and thanks the “junk mail” senders because without them he’d be unnecessary. During the holidays he delivered, on his route alone, between 200-300 parcels per day. The USPS struggles and seems oriented toward parcel delivery as a way to subsidize letter mail. Much in the way that “phone companies” subsidize Plain Old Telephone Service (copper land lines). But without a government mandate for both letter delivery and POTS for those unable to use modern alternatives it seems quite possible that those services would be terminated.

Perhaps the postcard/print exchange will need to evolve to a larger format, or transition from A to D.

“Something’s gotta give”.

USPS had (has?) a contract with UPS to deliver many of their packages, even on Sundays. But they were losing money on it. I think the service has been canceled. Interestingly, the US Constitution mandates a postal service just as it mandates an army. However, it's not clear just how big or small or how much it has to do with this mandate.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Catalog mailers still exist in droves for certain communities, it seems. My elderly parent received a ton of catalogues… literally a ton. Last year I had to move her to assisted living and thought that forwarding her mail to my home was a good idea. Only first class mail is forwarded. The government agencies were automatically informed of the address change but I had to change address for banks and merchants. Then the flood of catalogs resumed, but now they clutter my mailbox and trash can. Somehow, these catalogue-based vendors who prey on/support elderly people get automagically informed of address changes.

Many companies will stop paper catalog deliveries if you write to them. They might accept emails; I haven't checked in a long time. Look for that in the section that shows the company name, address and other stuff.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I pay my bills for the most part by check. That cuts down on the ability of others to hack my accounts.

I use Uniball Signo 207 ballpoint pens when writing checks . They're recommended as their ink is very difficult to bleach out of the check and the details changed to pay a thief who stole your check from your mailbox, if that;s where you mail from, or from other places. Apparently, there are ways to bleach out ink from less secure pen types.

 

[Pieter12]

I use Uniball Signo 207 ballpoint pens when writing checks . They're recommended as their ink is very difficult to bleach out of the check and the details changed to pay a thief who stole your check from your mailbox, if that;s where you mail from, or from other places. Apparently, there are ways to bleach out ink from less secure pen types.

I guess you could use a Sharpie.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

it's apparently quite common - to the point that I get repeatedly told by the bank to NOT send checks in the mail.

My wife refuses to leave her checks in the mailbox outside our house for pickup. She always drives to the post office and drops it off inside, not in the boxes outside.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Leading to a bounty for theives, who rob postmen of their master keys that open the whole blank of mailboxes, so they can steal mail from dozens of addresses with one easy open and later tamper with checks.
Our eldest daughter lives in such a complex of townhomes, and their collective mailboxes have been robbed on multiple occasions. It would be so much less tamper-prone if each resident's had a mail slot!

My daughter lives in an apartment house in NY State. All the UPS, Fed Ex, and other packages are left on the floor in the lobby near the dwellers' mail boxes. You just look for your own packages. Everyone seems to trust everyone else. Hard to believe this is common practice in apartment buildings. I guess if you ordered something valuable like a camera, you make delivery requiring a signature. That would require the guy to take an elevator up to the apartment. Of course, packages delivered to single homes don't seem to be that much safer.