MSE News: MPs call for return of cheque guarantee cards

thenudeone

c-m wrote: »

Cheques are dead people need to get over it and move on.

If you can use a cheque guarantee card, you can use a debit card.

!!!!!!?

No you can't. A cheque can be used to pay ANYONE.

A debit card can only be used to pay someone with MERCHANT CARD HANDLING ACCOUNT.

Spot the difference. I've made it easier for you.

No-one is forced to use cheques, guaranteed or otherwise. If two parties want to use them, let them.

How many people were without any access to cash a few weeks ago when a major bank's systems failed? With a cheque book and guarantee card, they could have obtained cash at loads of places. Instead, they just had to wait til the bank sorted it it. That''s not progress.

NFH

thenudeone wrote: »

No-one is forced to use cheques, guaranteed or otherwise.

I disagree. If someone sends me a cheque in settlement of a debt, it's a real nuisance to have to take it to the bank, and I have no choice but to do so. The lower the amount, the more annoying this is. The sooner cheques are abolished, the better. I don't want them.

redux

This isn't about abolishing cheques, though I suppose that might be also under appraisal.

As well as rarely writing cheques, I've paid cheques into my account a bit more often, and never been offered a cheque guarantee card to support those transactions, as a card only goes up to £100 or so.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

Cheques are very useful in my line of work. Many of my customers pay that way. I don't take card payments but I do offer the option of cash or BACS transfer.
The problem seems to be mainly with older people many of whom wouldn't know how to operate a computer never mind do online banking (though some younger people also struggle with it). For these, telephone banking would be an option but some of my elderly customers struggle to remember who I am (their window cleaner) never mind how to pay me.
Re-introducing the guarantee element into debit cards wouldn't affect me really as none of my customers ever bothered with it when it was around. In 20 years I've only ever had about ten cheques bounce - all clerical errors that the customer has made good on.
I imagine the banks will start charging for writing cheques at some point.
I have some customers who say that the only cheques they ever write are to me . I can empathise as the last one that I wrote was several years ago. It was a deposit for a B & B that I was booking in advance (they didn't have card facility).

Paulgonnabedebtfree

NFH wrote: »

Whenever one-man-band tradesmen visit my house, I always ask for their bank details so that I can pay them immediately by FPS using online banking. Some tradesmen are used to this and know their bank details off the top of their heads, whereas others have to go back out to their van etc. In either case, they are always delighted to have the money cleared into their account immediately. I always show them the online banking screen and ask them to confirm the account details are correct, and this also proves to them that the payment has been made.

I'm quite happy being paid this way for window cleaning. It is my preferred method because cheques require more work from me (scan them - 6 per A4 sheet-, record them, visit the ATM to deposit them - and cash is too easy to spend if I'm having a poor discipline day. BACS payments fill the gap nicely - so long as the customer follows my instructions and uses the reference number with which I supply them (not all banks - notably IF - show the customer name to the recipient).

tagq2

NFH wrote: »

I disagree. If someone sends me a cheque in settlement of a debt, it's a real nuisance to have to take it to the bank, and I have no choice but to do so.

Why do you feel you have no choice? "We don't accept cheques," is fairly clear, though you might get the occasional customer arguing that you're refusing to accept his repayment of debt.

Clearer is, "Cheque payment attracts a fee of ____." Or, if you really want to do it right, "Payment by [insert preferred method here] will entitle you to a discount of ____." Many big businesses do this for people prepared to take the (non-negligible but non-fatal) risk of direct debit.

grumbler

tagq2 wrote: »

Why do you feel you have no choice?

I do. I keep receiving cashback cheques from dial-a-phone and mobiles.co.uk (osps, e2save, cpw, betrescue in the past). For all of them cheques are just a way to solve their cash-flow problems, nothing more. For me it's PITA to deposit the cheques.

NFH

Paulgonnabedebtfree wrote: »

I'm quite happy being paid this way for window cleaning.

Interestingly, the window cleaner was the last guy who knew his bank details off the top of his head. It seems that window cleaners are leading the way on this!

NFH

tagq2 wrote: »

Why do you feel you have no choice? "We don't accept cheques," is fairly clear, though you might get the occasional customer arguing that you're refusing to accept his repayment of debt.

I'm a private individual who doesn't have customers. I'm talking about when a company owes me money for various reasons, usually small sums where the hassle of going to the bank is disproportionate to the amount involved. Companies seem to send out cheques without first asking whether a cheque is acceptable to the payee. They don't give me a choice and it's a real nuisance to receive a cheque, especially for small amounts.

redux

grumbler wrote: »

I do. I keep receiving cashback cheques from dial-a-phone and mobiles.co.uk (osps, e2save, cpw, betrescue in the past). For all of them cheques are just a way to solve their cash-flow problems, nothing more. For me it's PITA to deposit the cheques.

Interesting. Some similar firms stopped doing cheques years ago. One told me that one staff member was handling the cashback cheques full time, and they got through dozens of cheque books a week. Not long after that they switched to bank transfers