via www.panini.com
Strange as it may sound, the use of checks at point-of-sale (POS) remains highly relevant. Certainly in terms of historical comparisons they exist in a diminished capacity, but look closely and you will see paper checks in many POS environments.
Countries including Brazil and France still experience high usage of checks at POS. Even in the US, checks are an important part of the retail payments mix, representing nearly 10% of all US check volume or an estimated 2.6B payments. It’s also important to consider that check intensity varies among vertical segments within retailing. Generally, you find higher check usage in grocery, discount retailing, convenience (petro) stores, pharmacies, and large ticket segments (i.e. furniture, automobiles, appliances, etc.). In addition, there are specific applications associated with higher check usage. For example, in Brazil checks are often used to pay for large ticket items on a payment plan. In the US small businesses often use checks for purchases because the payment method is highly integrated with their business processes and habits.
