Paypal is not the only popular payment system. Certainly much more money is transferred by wires. by cheques, by WU etc - lots of services are bigger than Paypal.
Has this been discussed yet: what are the security implications of checks?
In my own experience as a victim of identity theft, circa 1993, Wachovia security folks told me that a "stop payment" on a US check might go away after 180 days, implying that a criminal could cash a stopped-payment check on day 181 and possibly get money. Is this still the case, I wonder?
It would be nice to accept US checks for bitcoins. That is well within the reach of your average US citizen. At major institutions there seems to be a 3-7 day holding period for deposited checks, after which it is considered cleared funds. Could a Bitcoin service do the same, I wonder? Presumably you would have to have humans perform check verification, over and above any automated systems in place.
"Stop payment" is good for 180 days before it is dropped. Any cheque 180 days old will fail to clear as it has gone "stale dated". There is no danger.
Once a cheque has cleared the "automated clearing house" it is very rarely disputed. Both banks have to be in agreement for any action to be taken. A counterfeit is about the only time that could happen.
BTW, for those readers who are not proficient in English, I properly use quotation marks to indicate others words repeated. Try plugging the above quoted terms into a search engine for more detail on the meaning of the phrases.
