Cheques no longer being phased out

• Posted by admin
• 04 August 2011
• News

Recently announced by the Payments Council, the humble cheque will not be phased out by 2018 as planned. The council stated that cheques will continue as long as consumers still need them.

This is a welcome decision for many and comes after much lobbying from other interested organisations. The main issue is that no real alternatives have been put in place even though the timescale for abolition had been announced. Those cited as being the most likely to struggle if cheques were abolished are the elderly, people receiving benefits and charities.

Results from various surveys also concluded that cheques are still very much in use. A which survey in January found that 92% wanted to keep cheques. Other surveys found that 50% had written a cheque in the last month, 65% of businesses had written a cheque in the last month and 76% of businesses had received a cheque in the last month.

So cheques look likely to remain in use for the foreseable future.

What about the cheque guarantee card?

Unfortunately the cheque card guarantee system ended on 30th June 2011 and many retailers stopped accepting cheques some time ago. Now that there is no guarantee system in place that a cheque will be paid, many more retailers may well stop accepting them. The main reason cheques have fallen out of favour for retailers is the cost of processing them; a charge made by their banks. However, clearly consumers still see the cheque as an important method of payment and retailers may well have to change their stance and start accepting cheques again if they wish to keep their customers.

Please comment below to add your views.

Tags: cheques, payment, Payments Council