You've all seen the commercial…the checkout line at the local nursery is moving smoothly and quickly, the sun is shining, plants are blooming, people are smiling–suddenly a customer wants to write a check for payment. Immediately the scene changes–plants wilt, birds stop singing, the sun goes behind a cloud…you get the picture.

The commercial is all about using Visa as a quick payment vehicle. But, let's be honest. Consumer habits are hard to change. Yes, we've all seen the data that says electronic transactions (credit card, debit card, ACH) are on an upward trend and check volumes are declining, but these reports don't tell the whole story.

The decline of the check as seen in charts, such as the one here resulting from McKinney & Company research, are based on checks that enter the clearing system as physical items to be routed using MICR data through a payment structure that has been in place for more than a half century. What is not represented is the number of checks consumers still write, but which are truncated early in the payment cycle and converted to ACH transactions for clearing. Even online bill payments often get translated to a check transaction, albeit one check for many payments to the same vendor.