why can't mtgox just mail checks to US customers?

[bitcon]

will our banks not honor their checks?

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[epetroel]

will our banks not honor their checks?

A great question.  Even if the checks were in Yen I'm thinking someone should be able to cash them for less than their 5% "emergency withdrawal" fee.

[candoo]

Checks is like 1920... no country uses checks. Only the USA. The rest of the world uses bankwire or sepa

[epetroel]

Checks is like 1920... no country uses checks. Only the USA. The rest of the world uses bankwire or sepa

Which is why he is suggesting this for US customers... Bankwire would be preferred of course, but they can't seem to get those working.

Are you trying to say they don't have paper checks in Japan?

[ronaldlee0917]

They replied to my very same suggestion a few months ago - "sending checks is not within our policies"

[tvbcof]

They replied to my very same suggestion a few months ago - "sending checks is not within our policies"

Seems like it would have been more honest to say "sending USD to Americans is not within our policies".

Mt. Gox were wrong to not be clear about this while still soliciting my identity document scans.  I consider the harm caused by my loss of control of this data to be significant, and also a result of fraudulent characterization of their service capabilities.  I'll probably not ever get around to attempting to seek reconciliation for damages, but I keep it open as a possibility.

So far Mt. Gox is the only outfit I've provided high quality identification documentation to so it will be clear who is at fault if the documentation comes onto the market and is abused, and in that case I will take a very active interest in seeing them suffer.

[DaRude]

Paper checks are a US thing. No one else has or uses them. You have to have a US bank to issue one with a routing number. So no they can't mail paper checks.

[candoo]

Paper checks are a US thing. No one else has or uses them. You have to have a US bank to issue one with a routing number. So no they can't mail paper checks.

Another thing that americans never recognize:

Guys - the  whole world measures in metric. (millimeters,centimeters,meters,kilometers, - milli litre, litres,  Kilogramm etc.)

Only the  Mericans stick to their gallons and miles!

[malevolent]

Checks is like 1920... no country uses checks. Only the USA. The rest of the world uses bankwire or sepa

France and India also use checks a lot.
SEPA is only within the EU + EFTA + Monaco.

But the question is "why can't mtgox just mail checks to US customers?"
I'd say the reason is very simple: they do not want to part with the money of their customers once they have it in their bank account

Bitcon, I'd seriously consider using a different exchange.

[DaRude]

They don't deal with US banks, so what bank do you expect them to cut you a check from?

As far as India/France i'm not 100% but pretty sure a US bank would have no idea what to do with an Indian/French cheque

Checks is like 1920... no country uses checks. Only the USA. The rest of the world uses bankwire or sepa

France and India also use checks a lot.
SEPA is only within the EU + EFTA + Monaco.

But the question is "why can't mtgox just mail checks to US customers?"
I'd say the reason is very simple: they do not want to part with the money of their customers once they have it in their bank account

Bitcon, I'd seriously consider using a different exchange.

[mp420]

Cashing foreign checks can be prohibitively expensive. And checks are a very big AML red flag (especially sending them overseas); therefore I understand perfectly why Gox doesn't want to use them. Probably against the rules Gox has to adhere to.

[Buffer Overflow]

Paper checks are a US thing. No one else has or uses them. You have to have a US bank to issue one with a routing number. So no they can't mail paper checks.

Another thing that americans never recognize:

Guys - the  whole world measures in metric. (millimeters,centimeters,meters,kilometers, - milli litre, litres,  Kilogramm etc.)

Only the  Mericans stick to their gallons and miles!

Pints and miles used here in UK as well.

[Amitabh S]

Hey checks (cheques) are also very common in India. So its not just a US thing. We would also love to receive cheques from MtGox.

[prof7bit]

checks are a US thing.

This is true. All others have "cheques" instead.

[Syke]

When I bought my house just this year, I needed to pay the downpayment with a cashier's check. Do non-US banks issue them?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashier%27s_check

[Amitabh S]

When I bought my house just this year, I needed to pay the downpayment with a cashier's check. Do non-US banks issue them?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cashier%27s_check

Yes its called a "demand draft" or "draft" in many countries.

[DeathAndTaxes]

What if clients withdraw $20M in checks and their account only holds $10M?