It is believed that the checking system goes back to the ancient Romans in the year 300 AD. At that time the buyer of certain goods would go a banker and ask for a letter to be written allowing the seller a certain amount of money in order to release the purchased goods. This system was eventually used for many years all over the world. The information contained on this letter was the same as the information contained on a modern personal check. It had a date, name of the bearer, the amount, and the signature of the purchaser, (the person issuing the check).
Today's personal checks are governed by the Uniform Commercial Code and both the bank and the issuer are held to certain standards of issuance. We have all paid a bill or made a purchase with a personal check at some time or another.
They have made a complete change in the last few years. We now find things like electronic checks which allow the seller the opportunity to receive the money immediately as the purchase is being made. There is now also something called a debit card that takes the place of the check. The debit card is a direct line to the buyer's checking account and eliminates the need to write a check. As more and more people move to the use of the debit card to buy products and pay their bills, some people feel the personal check will soon meet its demise. However, there are still millions of people that prefer to write a check