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Paying Rent by Cheque

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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    107

    Paying Rent by Cheque

    My landlord insists on me paying rent by cheque and I have no idea why. Not gonna bother asking as I’m sure I won’t get a straight answer. How common is this in HK and what would be the reason?


  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Nicolaas20:
    My landlord insists on me paying rent by cheque and I have no idea why. Not gonna bother asking as I’m sure I won’t get a straight answer. How common is this in HK and what would be the reason?
    It's because people here can be essentially backwards.

  3. #3

    Join Date
    Mar 2020
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    136

    Quite common. Could be for many reasons.

    1) Cheque is a way of life, if you have used cheques for decades it's the only thing you know and it works.
    2) You can receive a cheque and double check if it is the full and correct amount before depositing it in the account. Receiving money online what if you received less or more money? now it's a mess you have to account for the balance money in a separate transaction, or issue a credit for the next payment.
    3) Historically online payments in HK have costed money, so either the payee or the payee pays, so it's better to just avoid that altogether and just operate with cheque which is free (other than the $2 you paid for posting it). Even now some banks do not do free transfers, my bank charges $5 for fps transfers.
    4) Maybe he's not comfortable with letting you know his bank account.
    5) Maybe he operates multiple bank accounts, he can flexibly decide which bank account to deposit cheques into as he sees fit.
    6) He doesn't use online banking.

    LifeInHK likes this.

  4. #4

    Join Date
    Nov 2017
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    107
    Quote Originally Posted by topworld:
    Quite common. Could be for many reasons.

    1) Cheque is a way of life, if you have used cheques for decades it's the only thing you know and it works.
    2) You can receive a cheque and double check if it is the full and correct amount before depositing it in the account. Receiving money online what if you received less or more money? now it's a mess you have to account for the balance money in a separate transaction, or issue a credit for the next payment.
    3) Historically online payments in HK have costed money, so either the payee or the payee pays, so it's better to just avoid that altogether and just operate with cheque which is free (other than the $2 you paid for posting it). Even now some banks do not do free transfers, my bank charges $5 for fps transfers.
    4) Maybe he's not comfortable with letting you know his bank account.
    5) Maybe he operates multiple bank accounts, he can flexibly decide which bank account to deposit cheques into as he sees fit.
    6) He doesn't use online banking.
    2) It is not a mess at all. Just ask me to transfer more if I transferred too little or transfer the excess back to me/keep the credit for next month. It takes 3 minutes, where them ending up cashing another cheque will take multiple days. Paying the same amount every month you’d really have to be a special kind of stupid to transfer the wrong amount.
    3) It costs me nothing. Are there really still banks that charge the recipient?
    4) What harm can I do with only his account number?
    5) I’m sure he would have specified an account from the start. If not, I doubt he cares to which account I pay my peasant 30K into as he is stinking rich.
    6) He does not need it for me to transfer it that way.

    I do agree with your first point though. That was what I was thinking as well. And what @angeluscomplex said.

  5. #5

    Join Date
    Oct 2005
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    14,414

    Old school method I guess, stuck in there ways.

    We have two commercial tenants ones a large chain of mobile phone shops, They scan the cheque and deposit slip and email it to us after paying in.

    The other pays cash into our bank account.

    Why either don’t just simply do an online transfer is beyond me.

    angeluscomplex likes this.

  6. #6

    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Hong Kong, from UK
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    3,838

    I would refuse to pay by cheque in 2020. I've had a couple of landlords who were a bit suspicious of electronic transfers, but they were ok after I paid my deposit while they were in the room and sent them the electronic receipt...

    angeluscomplex likes this.

  7. #7

    Really struggling with this one. As a small landlord myself, I actually go the other way and require all tenants to pay rent by autopay – too many bad experiences with tenants who think it's okay to pay a few weeks late after they get back from holiday or just "forget" to pay on time.

    drumbrake likes this.

  8. #8

    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Hong Kong
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    2,260

    Different banks would charge you and the recipient a fee for wire transfers. If i'm moving money between my accounts in different banks, I just write a check and deposit when I pass by a machine.

    I think for most of us, the fees are low and insignificant. But if you do it every month, it would be enough to get a decent meal after a year. I'd rather that was in my tummy than in some bankers.

    shri likes this.

  9. #9

    Join Date
    Dec 2002
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    薄扶林
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    47,971
    Different banks would charge you and the recipient a fee for wire transfers. If i'm moving money between my accounts in different banks, I just write a check and deposit when I pass by a machine.
    One of our company accounts is with a local bank - cannot setup FPS and transfers to that account costs on both ends.

    Randomly deposit a cheque in there when we're around one of their branches.