Save the Cheque!

Paulgonnabedebtfree

moz86 wrote: »

I recently read this article on the BBC website about the declining use of cheques:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7850945.stm

I know they're slow and outdated compared to instant transfers, but does anyone not think its a shame they're dying off? They're a piece of history!

I propose a campaign to save our Chequebooks!

Cheques are very important to me. I receive about 60$ of my income via cheques - most of them come through the post. 30% is by cash and about 10% by BACS. If cheques were to go the way of the dodo, it would be a major inconvenience for me.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

ahai1 wrote: »

If a tradesman can accept a cheque then they can accept a BACS transfer as it is not that complicated all day they do is give out a bank account and a sort and the person just transfers them money. It is a pyschological thing as people think when they got the cheque they have the money the thing is that the cheque is meaningless unless the other person has the money.

Something I would like to address with this. I get a lot of cheques for my work - many of them through the post. I have tried to encourage people to pay me by BACS but you may be surprised at how many people are just no interested in going down that route.
Some of my customers do pay me by BACS. I have to give them a reference number (based on housename/number plus postcode). My bank (Abbey) withhold that reference number until after the 1st of the following month. This is a major hindrance to me because I supply a frequent service (window cleaning) and I need to know before my next visit who actually owes me money so that I can bill them appropriately. Most of the time I can see in real time who has paid by BACS by cross referencing the surname (which IS supplied) with the amount paid. However, I have a number of people as customers with identical surnames and identical prices. This discourages me from offering a BACS facility too widely.
Abbey are really shooting themselves in the foot with this because I don't pay for the first 100 cheques a month anyway and all BACS payments are free. A cynical person might think that they are trying to force me to accept a high number of cheques in order to start charging.
And yes, I have enquired about this a number of times and I'm sick and tired of discussing it with people who are powerless to change it.
Maybe they really want people who they make no money out of to go elsewhere.
I WANT all my non cash paying customers to pay by BACS. My bank is making it too difficult for me to do this. Seems pretty absurd to me.

ahai1

I agree the bank should give you reference number as soon as the money has gone into the account.

Also why would anyone want to delay a payment? It is unfair to the person paying. One of the reasons I pay by BACS and debit card is that I know my money is leaving the account straight away.

If you want to delay a payment then just ask someone to send it at a later date.

Also why does a curry house accept cheques which are not very secure and not debit cards?

Also please note that the government in order to save money is paying things like benefit payments via BACS as it is the cheapest method. They have no interest in keeping the cheque but they have sent and do send large amounts because they have so much money to send.

PROLIANT

ahai1 wrote: »

Also why does a curry house accept cheques which are not very secure and not debit cards?

Because a cheque that has been guaranteed is well - guaranteed.

ShelfStacker_3

PROLIANT wrote: »

Because a cheque that has been guaranteed is well - guaranteed.

Untrue. Guaranteed cheques can still be returned unpaid for a variety of reasons.

PROLIANT

ShelfStacker wrote: »

Untrue. Guaranteed cheques can still be returned unpaid for a variety of reasons.

So what is the point of having a "cheque ok" card then?

ahai1

Lure you into false security.

What are the reasons for returning guaranteed cheques?

PROLIANT

ahai1 wrote: »

Lure you into false security.

What are the reasons for returning guaranteed cheques?

Still does not answer the question, why have banks been issuing these cards for years, millions of £ invested in setting up and maintaining the system, how is it a false sense of security?
Unless you have some evidence that the system is flawed then this is pure speculation.

ahai1

It is a false sense of security because people believe that they will get the money but as Shelfstacker has said that is not always the case.

Extant

PROLIANT wrote: »

Still does not answer the question, why have banks been issuing these cards for years, millions of £ invested in setting up and maintaining the system, how is it a false sense of security?
Unless you have some evidence that the system is flawed then this is pure speculation.

Guaranteed cheques can be returned for all sorts of reasons - did the retailer record the details themselves? Capture all card details? Check the signature of the card to the cheque? Is the cheque correctly completed?

That last one is the easiest one. Most people cannot write a cheque to save their lives. On the left hand goes the amount in WORDS. On the right, NUMBERS. But people still have trouble with this - "forty pounds and 86p."