Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their very own.
Key Takeaways
Why paper checks aren’t lifeless but: Most small enterprise homeowners nonetheless depend on them — what’s behind the selection?
The shocking persistence of paper funds: Even in 2026, checks stay a go-to instrument for a lot of companies.
It could appear arduous to imagine, however in 2026, most small enterprise homeowners nonetheless use paper checks.
The analysis exhibits this. In response to a 2024 research from the Atlanta Federal Reserve, as a lot as 83% of small companies — these with as much as $10 million in annual revenues — use paper checks. One other research by an out of doors cost processing agency discovered related (75%) outcomes. And Mineral Tree, a worldwide funds processing firm, mentioned that in simply the previous 12 months, 57% of companies paid greater than one-quarter of their distributors through test.
My very own expertise corroborates this. I go to and discuss to numerous small enterprise homeowners yearly. And whereas many depend on digital cost for sure distributors, most are nonetheless doing their test runs the way in which they’ve been doing them for years — even a long time. You’d suppose that, as youthful generations take over, issues would change? Nope.
How can so many enterprise homeowners nonetheless be utilizing paper checks on this modern-day? Is that this ignorance? No, only a good enterprise apply.
It’s not arduous to grasp. There are apparent causes to stay with paper checks. For instance, there are each the preliminary and longer-term service prices, in addition to the short-term disruption of shifting to an all-electronic cost system in comparison with the return-on-investment for not doing so. Many enterprise homeowners don’t have the inner sources to implement such a venture. Others don’t wish to rock the boat with their suppliers. After which there’s easy demographics: the vast majority of small companies are run by older enterprise homeowners — these over the age of fifty — that aren’t solely set of their methods however not anxious to show issues the other way up to repair one thing that for them isn’t actually damaged.
However pretty much as good as these causes are, there are even higher the reason why so many small enterprise homeowners are sticking with paper checks.
It’s truly higher safety
Though the Atlanta Fed’s research mentioned that utilizing paper checks comes with a extra vital threat and prevalence of fraud, I’ve discovered that these dangers may be simply mitigated, and in reality are mitigated by a few of my smarter, extra financially-aware shoppers.
system of inner controls ensures that every one checks are locked in a protected and solely launched from custody when a test run is made. Even then, good monetary managers preserve a strict watch on their test numbers.
Checks then undergo a means of approval — manually matched to invoices after which topic to 2 signatures for disbursements over a certain quantity. All of because of this by the point a test is lastly put within the mail, it’s been in comparison with supply paperwork, reviewed, signed and verified by a number of folks in a corporation, making certain there have been quite a few units of eyes laid on the transaction.
Doing so slows down the disbursement course of and offers folks time to consider a transaction earlier than the cash goes out the door. My shoppers who pay electronically oftentimes arrange their system with fewer of those processes in place, leaving them uncovered to incorrect funds.
What about fraud? That is simply defended by a preferred service that’s offered by most banks referred to as Optimistic Pay. That is the place an organization submits a listing of funds (together with test numbers, payee, quantity and date) to the financial institution prematurely, and the financial institution solely disburses cash when the test offered matches that record. Most bankers I do know inform me this service works simply as effectively — if not higher — with handbook checks offered vs. digital funds submitted that may be topic to potential malware or hackers.
And talking of malware and hackers, corporations which are absolutely reliant on digital funds proceed to be uncovered to knowledge breaches and hacks. Digital cost programs (ACH, wires, on-line banking) are main targets for fraud, and lots of assaults bypass the financial institution completely by exploiting folks and processes. A 2025 funds fraud research from the Affiliation of Monetary Professionals Funds Fraud reported that 79% of organizations skilled precise or tried funds fraud in 2024. A current FBI report discovered that digital funds are central to losses for each enterprise homeowners and banks, with cyber-enabled fraud accounting for 83% of all reported monetary losses and wire and ACH funds being key channels in profitable fraud circumstances.
The place paper checks actually win
All of those are good the reason why an organization could wish to keep on with a handbook test processing course of. Nevertheless it’s not the principle cause why I see this so usually in my shoppers. That cause is straightforward: higher money administration. Or ought to I say higher float administration?
That’s as a result of once you submit a cost to a financial institution, your cash is instantly gone out of your account, even when it nonetheless takes just a few days for it to reach on the provider. The financial institution is making its cash, however corporations miss out on these further days of curiosity, which, relying on how a lot money you’ve, might be vital.
There’s additionally the management issue. Various enterprise homeowners I do know like to chop checks and put them in a drawer. The cash is out of their account so far as their books are involved. Nevertheless it hasn’t left the financial institution but, which might be crucial for corporations going through money move challenges or in the event that they’re in the midst of a dispute. As soon as a test is put within the mail, there are nonetheless just a few enterprise days earlier than it reaches the provider after which will get cashed. All of those further days give the enterprise proprietor the flexibility to increase their money move just a bit bit, with out incurring curiosity prices or having to lean on different sources of financing.
All of those causes clarify why so many enterprise homeowners are nonetheless doing their test runs the old-school method: utilizing paper. It could go in opposition to widespread conference. However they’re not flawed.
Key Takeaways
Why paper checks aren’t lifeless but: Most small enterprise homeowners nonetheless depend on them — what’s behind the selection?
The shocking persistence of paper funds: Even in 2026, checks stay a go-to instrument for a lot of companies.
It could appear arduous to imagine, however in 2026, most small enterprise homeowners nonetheless use paper checks.
The analysis exhibits this. In response to a 2024 research from the Atlanta Federal Reserve, as a lot as 83% of small companies — these with as much as $10 million in annual revenues — use paper checks. One other research by an out of doors cost processing agency discovered related (75%) outcomes. And Mineral Tree, a worldwide funds processing firm, mentioned that in simply the previous 12 months, 57% of companies paid greater than one-quarter of their distributors through test.
My very own expertise corroborates this. I go to and discuss to numerous small enterprise homeowners yearly. And whereas many depend on digital cost for sure distributors, most are nonetheless doing their test runs the way in which they’ve been doing them for years — even a long time. You’d suppose that, as youthful generations take over, issues would change? Nope.
