Those written by the rest of us are doodles, or, if we attempt to obtain goods or services with them, an example of check kiting, a crime. What distinguishes a good check from a bad is, therefore, partly a matter of geography. Of course, the fact that it is allowable to tender a non-redeemable note doesn't mean that one is obligated to accept it, although if nothing else is offered, or can be offered, it amounts to that. Even checks, however, have become cumbersome. The writing can become smudged and illegible.
More convenience is required.
Enter the credit card. Using it, you still have to write checks, but now you can do it at home, and only a single check will pay many merchants, which have already been paid by the bank simply by having their accounts credited for the amount of the purchase. Well, since they pay their help by simply adding the amount of the paycheck to their accounts, and since they pay the merchant by the same mechanism, it's hard to calculate the cost, but a good guess would be nothing. After all, modern money isn't any thing, and banks alone can create it, to lend to us, or, in their own case, to spend directly. Five percent of the money created annually is created by banks directly for their own use.