The problem with checks in 2020

Remember the Y2K disaster that was expected but did not actaully happen, except perhaps in a minor and almost insignificant way? We might now be facing a Y2020 disaster, though in a different manner.

The Y2K disaster that was expected was due to a computer glitch that was thought to not be able to read the new digits for the new millennium. It was thought that nearly all computer systems worldwide would crash when the calendar turned to January 1, 2000.

The new problem is not one of computer systems but of old, nearly outdated, personal finance systems that almost everybody still uses. Checks. Checks seem to be outdated and unnecessary in today's world of online transfers, digital money, and credit cards. Yet we still use them regularly.

the problem is, as reported by Yediot, that people commonly writes checks using a shortened dating system, such as 01/01/20 to indicate January 1, 2020. The problem with this is that a check is good for 6 months from the date on the check. A bank will honor a check dated January 1, 2020 until June 1, 2020. If the 6 months passes, the check bearer can just hold onto the check and easily alter the date to say 01/01/2021 and then cash it next January.

Another example would be if you give someone a post-dated check for say December 01, 2020 and write the date as 01/12/20 (in Israel the date is written out as dd/mm/yy, unlike in the USA where it is written as mm/dd/yy), perhaps a rent check, the landlord could alter the date to say 01/12/2019 and cash it immediately.

there are myriads of other examples of how this can go bad and become a problem for the person writing the check. The point is that financial experts are advising people to not write 20 for the year indicator but to write it out fully as 2021.

Fore-warned is fore-armed.

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