In the US, printed checks don't need to be issued by banks and it's pretty much up to the person you're giving the check to whether they think it's an acceptable check or not. But, yes, to the degree checks are still used, the norm is to have an address printed on them. At least historically, a lot of stores wouldn't accept so-called blank checks without any personalization (understanding that's not quite the same thing as not having an address.)
In the US, mechanically speaking, you only really need an account number and routing number to pull money from someone else's account. (Legally, you also need their permission.) These two numbers are printed on the check.
In fact, some merchants will accept a check at point of sale, and then use those numbers to initiate an ACH electronic transfer, then void the check instead of cashing it.
Checks really are nothing more than IOU notes for the writer's bank to honor.
"So we're making a T-shirt and we do this Kickstarter campaign and we raise $590,807 (which, really, we can't thank you enough).
It turns out the money collected on Kickstarter is handled by Amazon. Great, we figure: This is the company that will sell you anything on the planet and get it you you the next day. And what we need in this case isn't even a thing, really. We just need Amazon's bank to send money electronically to a checking account at Chase bank. It's just information traveling over wires. How long could it take: A minute? An hour?
It took five days.
On today's show: Why the invisible pipes that move money around America are so slow. (And why the ones in England are so much faster.)"
Checks almost certainly fall into the category of US systems that we'd never design today but which work well enough for most people most of the time that there seems to be no great urgency to roll out a better replacement system. Obviously options exist even today but "writing a check" is still the norm for a lot of people in a lot of circumstances.
Holy cow! About yet more things. I think the last time I bought anything at a shop with a cheque was 1997. I think almost all shops around here (UK) stopped accepting them a long time ago.
It's pretty uncommon in the US to pay at a store with a check. I certainly haven't done it in years and it's probably been a long time since I've seen anyone else do it. Larger retail chains tend to use some sort of electronic check verification system but they don't make it easy to pay by check (if they allow it at all) and it's pretty rare these days.
However, it's still the norm to pay service people who come to your house or individuals who you owe money to for something by handwritten check.
