Amazon just announced that you are able to select your own minimum check amount, which I guess almost counts as the deferring payments for a month that we've been looking for. Should be handy to minimise the huge hit that Amazon charges for issuing checks.
It's also important for international affiliates. They aren't charged the check fee by Amazon because they don't have a direct deposit option, but the fees that are charged for depositing foreign currency checks can make the Amazon fees look like pennies. They can be huge. About 25 years ago, I was charged US$35 to deposit a rand-denominated check worth less than US$100.