Target will stop accepting personal checks for in-store payments next week.

The company said the change is “due to extremely low volumes” for checks used in stores, per a statement to sister publication Retail Dive. The new policy is effective July 15. 

Target has “taken several measures to notify guests in advance to aid an easy and efficient checkout experience,” a spokesperson for the retailer said.

The decision takes about 1,950 stores – and another nearly 40 soon-to-open Target locations – out of the mix for customers who want to pay for their purchases by writing a paper check. The retailer highlighted other ways to pay in its statement.

“Target is committed to creating an easy and convenient checkout experience, and that includes providing our guests with numerous ways to pay, including our new Target Circle Cards (formerly known as Target RedCard); cash; digital wallets; SNAP/EBT; buy now, pay later services; and credit and debit cards,” the spokesperson said.

Rival Walmart, which has about 4,600 namesake stores and nearly 600 Sam’s Club locations in the U.S., still accepts personal checks, a spokesperson for that company confirmed to Retail Dive on Monday.

“When it comes to payments, checks are something of a relic,” Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, told Retail Dive in emailed comments. “They are so little used nowadays that it’s hardly surprising Target has decided to ditch them. That said, there will be small pockets of people, including more elderly consumers, who will lament that they are being phased out.”

Nonetheless, a Target spokesperson confirmed that the Minneapolis-based company will still take checks by mail as payment on customers’ credit card balances.

By Nate Delesline III on July 10, 2024
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