Checklist: Digital checks have arrived—and they’re creating a consumer revolution

15/08/2021

It’s time to say goodbye to paper checks, toss your pen in a drawer, and turn on your computer—the future has arrived with digital checks. But what is a digital check? Are digital checks safe and efficient? Can they help you avoid your landlord forever? We’ve put together everything you need to know about the consumer revolution that’s taking place, a revolution that we’re proud to be leading.

The V-CHECK system

Grab a pen, write your name, an amount in numbers, write out the amount in words, sign the check, record the information, and tear it out of the checkbook. After you’re done, do it all over again for every check you write. If you feel like you’ve gotten a tiny bit older while filling out one, simple check, we’ve got news for you—you can get rid of paper checks and save yourself time and hassle. The future is here, and it’s all about digital checking.

The check that doesn’t really exist

A digital check doesn’t exist in a checkbook. It’s not floating around somewhere in the bookkeeping department or gathering dust in a drawer. It doesn’t even look like the familiar paper check. Even better—it takes no time at all for it to be signed and ready to send.

This is how it works. With a simple click you determine whether you want the check to be cashable immediately, or at some date in the future, addressed to one person or many. You can even create numerous payments to various organizations including bills, rent, suppliers, and more. It’s all easy and extremely secure. That’s the digital checking revolution in a nutshell

Digital checking makes sense

Whether you use checking for business or private purposes, there is no question that digital checking will save you valuable time. Instead of investing resources in filling out checks, correcting technical errors (that always seem to occur), hoping that the check will get where it’s going in time, and endless tracking, the complex logistics are digitally transformed and can be conducted with a simple click.

How digital checking works

As soon as you log in to the system and specify who the check is for, the amount, and the payment date, you’re basically done. You don’t have to wait for the postal service, or for the payment date, or hold on to the checks until the payment date arrives. You also don’t have to send a check for a regular payment repeatedly—when you go digital, everything is easier and more organized. With digital checks, you can determine if a check is transferable and if it needs to be signed by more than one person. If it does, it will automatically be transferred to the additional signatories.

Safe and green

In addition to convenience, speed, and simplicity, digital checks offer two additional advantages. The first is that they are extremely secure and can’t be stolen or falsified. The private information about the sender and the receiver is protected, and it’s easy to track the status of the checks. Second, it’s an environmentally friendly solution that saves tons of paper and ink.

The world’s on to digital payments

The technology consulting company Capgemini conducted a study in 2019 that points to a significant increase in the use of digital payments throughout the world. Their findings indicate that in Greece 36% of residents and businesses make payments digitally. In Russia that number is 40%, in India it’s 29%, and Israel isn’t lagging far behind. According to additional surveys, in 2019 the total turnover in digital transactions on payment apps in Israel was 2 billion shekels. 3,500 organizations and businesses in Israel stated that they find digital payments to be convenient and effective for business transactions. Although Israel still has a long way to go, we’ve also seen significant growth in the use of payment apps (and we have a part in that as well) that points to a strengthening trend—the world is going digital, and we can assume that we’re going to say goodbye to paper checks sooner than later.