As a former bookkeeper for a major retailer I was paid well above minimum wage, in addition most retailers encode checks not the banks. You give way to much credit to the banking industry. I'm sorry you had a terrible experience with e-checking, but checks are obsolete thanks to the incredible amount of loss each year from people "writing bad checks".
Checks aren't obsolete here. Not even close. Target, Sears, KMart & nearly all local merchants still take them with a smile. And they don't even try to make banking decisions for me. Its not my loss, its Walmart's. I am doing just fine.