I cheat a bit. My bank lets me put in any arbitrary address and payee and they cut a check and send it for me for free. Not only do I not go through checks, I save on postage and can schedule payments too. Sometimes I put in a payee and I don't even know how they get paid. It might be digital or maybe they send paper. One of the things I love about this account.
The thing I always thought was magic is the thing where I can snap a photo of a check and it gets deposited in my account. I know how it works, but it still feels somewhat magical to me.
We do that a lot, too. But have run into a problem with our HOA dues last year, because of mail delays, this method resulted in a lot of late payments we never realized (post the payment on the same day of every month, inconsistent mail delivery results in the occasional late delivery). Some payees where we use this method have taken the steps to receive digital transactions, so they go through fast. The company managing the HOA has NOT done this. Using the HOA's pay online function, it's not even possible to pay early, so we have to wait until each month's dues get listed. It STILL takes a number of days for the transaction to go through, so it's really irritating that their system is as antiquated as it is. The method to set up automatic payments through their system is obscenely antiquated. Most places nowadays offer you a check box to make the payment recurring. NOPE. Gotta send an e-mail to someone in the management company to start the process, and they don't list that address anywhere, irritatingly enough. So I haven't set it up.
But that's not the sort of situation that I was even referring to before. It doesn't happen super often, but with a surprising frequency, I encounter businesses that insist on a physical personal check delivered personally by either me or my wife.