Target to stop accepting personal checks next week

by Miranda Nazzaro - 07/08/24 3:38 PM ET

A large red-and-white Target sign is shown from below outside a store. — Charles Krupa, Associated Press file
A Target sign is shown outside a store on Feb. 28, 2022. Target confirmed July 8, 2024, that starting July 15 the store will no longer accept personal checks as a form of payment.

Target will no longer accept personal checks starting next week, the retail giant confirmed to The Hill on Monday.

“Due to extremely low volumes, we’ll no longer accept personal checks starting July 15. We have taken several measures to notify guests in advance to aid an easy and efficient checkout experience,” a Target spokesperson wrote in a statement.

The spokesperson for Target noted the company still accepts various other payments, including their Target Circle cards, cash, digital wallets, SNAP/EBT, credit and debit cards and “buy now, pay later” services.

The change’s start date of July 15 comes after the company’s annual Target Circle week sale from July 7-13.

The use of personal checks has dropped in recent years and study published last February by GOBankingRates found 46 percent of Americans had not written a single check in the last year.

In 2023, personal checks accounted for just 3 percent of payments made in 2023, down from four percent in 2022 and 2021, and 7 percent in 2020, according to data from Federal Reserve Financial Services.

The move follows that of ALDI and Whole Foods Markets, both of which are among a series of retails that no longer take personal checks.

Tags