Are Cheques Necessary Anymore?
14/07/2011
Originally planned to end as a form of payment in 2018, the Payments Council has announced that cheques are now here to stay for as long as customers want to use them. Are they really necessary any longer as a form of payment?
In what consumer groups have dubbed a ‘victory for common sense’ the Payments Council has announced that cheques are no longer going to be scrapped in 2018 and will remain a viable way for consumers to pay for products and services.
The move to leave cheques will be welcome news to millions of consumers who still rely on them to manage their household finances each month.
“This is a victory for the consumer and a common sense approach,” says Gary Follis, Nationwide Head of Policy.
“Scrapping cheques would have had serious ramifications not only for the elderly and most vulnerable in society but also for small businesses and charities that rely on this payment method.”
The decision has also been widely welcomed by consumer group Which?
Chief executive, Peter Vicary-Smith said that while it may be more convenient for banks to process other forms of payments, cheques still have a viable place as way to make payments for consumers.
“This is great news for the millions of people who regularly use cheques,” he said.
“To announce a timetable for the abolition of cheques before any suitable alternatives had been put in place was never a good idea. This is a victory for common sense.”
The number of people paying via cheque has declined significantly in recent decades as more convenient electronic ways of making payment have become increasingly popular. 11 million cheque were written every day in 1990, whereas in 2009 just 3.8 million were written on a daily basis.
Do you still use cheques to make payments? Do you think cheques should be abolished completely and everyone made to use 21st century payment technology?
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