said by Shady Bimmer: Further, I know many people that do all "electronic" banking similarly but are not aware that some of those payments are in fact done by paper check.
I'm fully aware that happens in some cases. Thankfully, I do not have to deal with any such vendors that don't have a means to accept ACH payments. My references were to personal checks (of which I don't even have any, I haven't used one in the last 5 or 6 years).
said by Shady Bimmer: laws covering liability in credit vs debit or in practices that financial providers may offer above and beyond those laws.
I'm also well aware that the laws covering debit card liability are lax in comparison to those of credit cards. However, many financial institutions, including the one I use, go far beyond what the laws mandate and offer similar protections as that of a credit card. Even the alerts can be set to trigger making it very easy to monitor their use (I just used my debit card at an ATM in Shanghai, China and within a few seconds got a text message on my phone telling me that an ATM transaction was done at a site in China and that if this was not done by me to contact Wells Fargo security as soon as possible). I like that level of security. I get emails telling me of any purchases using my debit card online, as well, so I can take appropriate action in time.