MSE News: Cheques to disappear by October 2018

looby-loo_2

I put a cheque in a birthday card for my niece and nephew. I'm not posting cash. What will the alternative be? It wont feel the same paying it into their bank account on line - doubt they'd even notice.

jambosans

looby-loo wrote: »

I put a cheque in a birthday card for my niece and nephew. I'm not posting cash. What will the alternative be? It wont feel the same paying it into their bank account on line - doubt they'd even notice.

Well in nine years time I'd imagine they would appreciate a Faster Payment which reaches their account within 2 hours, as opposed to a piece of paper which they need to take to the bank, and wait four working days before they can withdraw. You're still giving them money one way or another. If they need something physical then write on a piece of paper "I.O.U. F.P. of £10 on 17/12/18".

realaledrinker

BigBouncyBall wrote: »

there's a reason the cheque has lasted over 300 years. It works.

i dont see how its any more costly or more effort to process now with modern technologies and computers.

Manual processes cost time & money.

realaledrinker

looby-loo wrote: »

I put a cheque in a birthday card for my niece and nephew. I'm not posting cash. What will the alternative be? It wont feel the same paying it into their bank account on line - doubt they'd even notice.

You send them a card with a nice picture on & say you have put £x in their bank account for them (having sent a faster payment to their account on their birthday, details courtesy of mum & dad).

Note to moneysavers - keeps the funds in your own account for a few extra days!

Extant

BigBouncyBall wrote: »

i dont understand what is going to replace the cheque??

can someone tell me how i pay a plumber or electrician for essential work completed once cheques have been got rid of? I doubt they're going to like leaving me an invoice to pay and hope i do, nor am i prepared to pay cash or be marched upstairs to my computer to make a bank payment there and then.

I just dont see what would replace the current system.

The underlying technology is already there to replace cheques. You can now send payments effectively instantly between the majority of banks, and by 2018 this will no doubt be all banks and a matter of course.

You're looking at the issue from a 2009 perspective as opposed to a 2018 one. Do you have a mobile phone? You wouldn't have to be marched upstairs at all. You could initiate the payment from your phone, and the trader could confirm it from their phone within seconds. Hell, you can do this now. The way we relate to technology has change immensely from the year 2000 and will change even further by 2018.

The cheque is a legacy system. If you're looking for something that will replace its exact usage, you're not going to find it. But that doesn't mean there aren't alternatives that are ultimately easier and more efficient.

Extant

james_joyce wrote: »

The line of argument seems to be, 'cheques are dying anyway, so we are going to kill them'. I'm not convinced cheques are dying - maybe they are just finding their natural usage level, with the buyers and sellers who really benefit from them as others have mentioned. Perhaps the banks are talking up the idea of cheques dying out and the need to kill them off - to save themselves money? Incidentally I think I saw a website recently which accepted payment in postal orders but not cheques! Hopefully postal orders will carry on even if cheques are finally abolished.

Postal orders are just cheques drawn on the Post Office's own account.

It's also not the banks talking about killing off cheques, it's the Payments Council - which includes government agencies. This isn't just about saving money for the banks, it's about having an efficient market place to transact in.

Believe it or not, these decisions are made with businesses (the larger users by volume) in mind that someone who pays school bills etc. by cheque.

Alpine_Star

Extant wrote: »

Postal orders are just cheques drawn on the Post Office's own account.

It's also not the banks talking about killing off cheques, it's the Payments Council - which includes government agencies. This isn't just about saving money for the banks, it's about having an efficient market place to transact in.

It's all about banks killing off cheques and you're kidding yourself otherwise. The Payments Council has 16 seats, 12 of which are held by banks.

Extant

Alpine_Star wrote: »

It's all about banks killing off cheques and you're kidding yourself otherwise. The Payments Council has 16 seats, 12 of which are held by banks.

I realize that it's very popular to be a "bank cynic" these days, but you might perhaps consider the last sentence of my post as well.

BigBouncyBall

elderly people don't get the concept of bank payments over the internet or mobile phone. my gran hasn't even got a computer let alone a mobile. How is she going to pay a plumber?

BigBouncyBall

internet banking is still rife with fraud, i've had problems 3 times. I've never had a cheque cause problems.