either/or

i just spent 30 minutes standing in line paying bills at the bank. As far as i can tell though you can write checks and some people have a checking account, the practice of paying bills via check through the mail is nonexistent for a number of reasons, (and there could be historical precedents of which i’m unaware.)  First, checking accounts are rare and expensive (they charge a monthly fee to keep one open). Second, you must pay an additional fee when you write a check (i can’t tell if that’s a tax or a processing fee). Third, check transactions would be much more visible to AFIP (the tax authority). Fourth, the mail system here is notoriously unreliable. I know that people do the equivalent of bank drafts to pay bills, but everytime i’ve gone to the bank there are 20-30 people in line slowly waiting their turn to hand cash to the caja (cashier).