More than half of the nation's 35 largest banks don't offer electronic bill payment of any sort. Gerard Milano, executive director of the California Bankers Clearing House Association, said smaller banks and other financial institutions will have to lead the way into an electronic future. After all, with mergers giving large banks a competitive edge in the costs of check-clearing, smaller institutions will have to find some way to even the playing field. Technology could provide the great equalizer. But even if it all comes to pass in 1999, dont expect the paper check to disappear anytime soon, Milano said.
People still use cash.
They still barter. And they'll still write checks. People's habits and the way they deal with bills are kind of intimate, individual things. Changing their behavior patterns takes generations. You can only change them one bill at a time.