Target is introducing a big change in their checkout policy as the department store chain prepares to no longer accept personal checks. This new rule affecting customer purchases will take effect on July 15, Target recently told USA Today.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Target Corporation runs the seventh-largest retailer in the United States. It is also one of the largest of all American-owned private employers in the country. However, the chain is now citing low quantities as a driving force behind a big checkout policy change that is taking effect very soon. What can consumers expect going forward?
Target announces that it will no longer accept personal checks as of July 15
“Due to extremely low volumes, we’ll no longer accept personal checks starting July 15,” Target shared in a statement. “We have taken several measures to notify guests in advance to aid an easy and efficient checkout experience.”
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“Target is committed to creating an easy and convenient checkout experience,” the statement continued, “and that includes providing our guests with numerous ways to pay, including our new Target Circle Cards (formerly known as Target RedCard); cash; digital wallets; SNAP/EBT; buy now, pay later services; and credit and debit cards.”
New trends coming to town, and not just at Target
Customers will have different options available to them, Target assured, noting that personal checks can be used to make Target Circle Card payments. However, the discount chain has observed part of a greater nationwide trend that’s been several years in the making.
WLNS notes that the Federal Reserve reported a steady decrease in the use of personal checks across multiple decades. Even within the last few years, we saw 20.2 billion personal checks written in 2015 decrease to 12 billion checks written in 2021. As a result, other retailers have similarly shied away from personal checks, with some stores outright refusing them. Instead, they favor cash, credit cards, or even online transactions as the safer route, asserts Host Merchant Services.
In recent months, Target has also announced new policies dedicated to preventing theft. One change included limiting or outright removing the self-checkout option at some locations. It also originally allowed employees to stop thefts of $100 or more; that threshold has now been lowered to $50 or more.
