Major department store Nordstrom will no longer accept checks or money orders as a form of in-store payment or in-store bill pay, the retail giant confirmed to NBC Chicago.
The change went into effect Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, a customer service representative said, and applies to both Nordstrom Rack and Nordstrom department stores. Nordstrom later confirmed the change to NBC Chicago.
Nordstrom told NBC Chicago that it notified "impacted customers" of the transition in January of 2025 but did not elaborate. Nordstrom also told NBC Chicago that in 2020 it had begun to shift away from accepting checks for in-store purchases. A sales associate from Nordstrom at Skokie's Westfield Old Orchard Mall told NBC Chicago the store had accepted checks up until Feb. 24.
As of Thursday, the new check policy was not reflected on Nordstrom's website. Under a payment method FAQ, Nordstrom stated that cash, COD, checks, money orders and gift cards were not accepted for online purchases. No information about in-store purchases was provided.
The change comes two months after the century-old department store agreed to be acquired and taken private by Nordstrom family members and a Mexican retail group in a $6.25 billion deal. As part of the deal, Nordstrom shareholders will receive $24.25 in cash for each share of Nordstrom common stock, or about $4 billion in all, representing a 42% premium on the company’s stock as of March 18, 2024, when reports of a potential transaction was reported by the media.
The acquiring group will also pick up more than $2 billion in Nordstrom debt. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2025, at which time the company’s shares will no longer trade publicly.
In 2023, Nordstrom announced it was closing all of its Canadian stores and cutting 2,500 jobs as it winds down operations in the country. Nordstrom first announced plans to expand to Canada in 2012 and opened its first store in Calgary at CF Chinook Centre in September 2014.
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Other retailers that no longer accept checks
Other big retailers stores have also moved to stop accepting checks as a form of payment. In 2024, Target announced it would no longer accept personal checks, citing "extremely low volumes." According to a recent survey from GoBanking Rates, 46% of Americans did not write a single check in 2024.
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Some large stores still do accept checks as a form of in-store payment, including Costco, Walmart, Sam's Club and Jewel-Osco, according to their website.
