Check vs. Cash

The recurrence of payroll robberies in Manhattan has led the Merchants' Association to investigate the desirability of paying employes by check instead of with cash. The Association has discovered that "generally speaking, employers liked the scheme, employes viewed it with disfavor, and the banks were on the fence."

Employers who pay entirely by check claim for the practice that it prevented robberies and holdups, as well as disputes over the accuracy of payments; in addition, it entailed less clerical work, provided an automatic receipt for payments, and educated employees in using banking facilities.

Opponents of the payment-by-check plan, on the other hand, maintain that it offended employes by making generally known the amounts of their wages and salaries, that it wasted time by forcing employes to cash their checks in banking hours, and that it created a new danger of dealing with "raised" checks.

From the banking standpoint, it is open question whether the extra trouble to which banks are put is recompensed in the aggregate deposits gained; also, special methods of identification are necessitated to enable tellers to cash pay checks with safety and confidence.