Are cheques safe?

Vortigern

bigfreddiel wrote: »

But the information? Would you happily post the information on your cheque here?

"On here" would be seen by many more people than would see a cheque, increasing the odds of somebody abusing the information.

It's unwise to publish your bank details to a large audience - J Clarkson

bigadaj

Vortigern wrote: »

"On here" would be seen by many more people than would see a cheque, increasing the odds of somebody abusing the information.

It's unwise to publish your bank details to a large audience - J Clarkson

And you can't punch people if they are online.

takman

teddysmum wrote: »

We find cheques to be useful for paying caravan storage and car garaging fees to small businesses which don't have card machines or boiler service charges to the engineer so he can be paid at the time of completing the job.


They are also useful to send people money as a surprise, as there is no need to ask for bank details.

I hate receiving cheques and I would never give someone a cheque as a present!. They are unnecessarily slow and giving someone cash is much better because at least they can spend it straight away!.

Also there is no excuse for any business not to have a card machine. You can get them for free and they plug into any smartphone so it really is something every business should have if they care about making it convenient for their customers.

I also pay for caravan storage but do it straight into their bank account which is much easier for everyone!.

I really can't see why people actually like cheques!. They are slow to pay money and slow to debit it, they require you to visit a bank and getting a cheque doesn't guarantee that you will get the money.

Even my grandmother who is almost 90 prefers to use a debit card, even more than using cash!.

Anthorn

bigfreddiel wrote: »

When you pay by cheque is it safe, a cheque has your name, the banks name and address, your account number and sort code.

Couldn't this be used to get into your account?

Cheers fj

Personally, although I have received a few cheques I haven't written a cheque in years. But let's look at how secure cheques really are: I apply for an account online, the agreement is "signed" online just by accepting the T&Cs and then I can order a cheque book if I want one. Then I can write out a cheque to authorise payment to someone and then sign it. BUT the bank has not the foggiest idea what my signature looks like but when presented honours the cheque. The cheque could have been signed by M Mouse!

So cheques themselves are not at all secure and whether the information on the cheque can be used by a third party to access an account depends on how secure the bank itself is.

bettyboo71

[QUOTE=takman;71124653
Also there is no excuse for any business not to have a card machine. You can get them for free and they plug into any smartphone so it really is something every business should have if they care about making it convenient for their customers.
.[/QUOTE]

The issue with card machines is not the cost of the equipment, it is the bank charges associated with accepting the payments. Obviouslsy this is not a concern for large companies who are making big profits and have the power to negotiate with their bank. For the small independent shop or cafe, these charges can have a big impact. This is why many small businesses will have a minimum purchae amount for card payments. Although this has digressed from the thread topic, cheque charges for businesses can be just as bad, and this is why many small businesses used to not accept cheques. (our local shop has a free cash machine so I tend to withdraw money so I can pay them cash!)

As many on here will know, there are a couple of survey companies who still pay by cheque. I think part of the reason for this is that it means the money stays in their account for at least a few days more. Also, it means that they don't have to worry about storing bank account details, etc. I particularly dislike receiving cheques because the bank van only visits here once a week for 15 mins, and the nearest branch is a 32 mile round trip.

With regard to the security of cheques, I think the banks are a lot more careful about security of cheques. I paid a fairly big bill by cheque last year and my bank contacted me to query it because it was the first time in over 2 years that I had used the cheque book. All forms of payments carry some element of risk, so I think mostly it comes down to convenience or practicality.

takman

bettyboo71 wrote: »

The issue with card machines is not the cost of the equipment, it is the bank charges associated with accepting the payments. Obviouslsy this is not a concern for large companies who are making big profits and have the power to negotiate with their bank. For the small independent shop or cafe, these charges can have a big impact. This is why many small businesses will have a minimum purchae amount for card payments. Although this has digressed from the thread topic, cheque charges for businesses can be just as bad, and this is why many small businesses used to not accept cheques. (our local shop has a free cash machine so I tend to withdraw money so I can pay them cash!)

You can get a free card reader and the cost to receive payments is 1.75% with no other charges at all.

So it's not really a very big amount and it is definitely worth it to provide a better customer experience and it also increases income because not everyone always carries enough cash.

If the cash machine is inside your local shop then it is likey that they have to pay for it (especially because it's free). Shops are usually happy to rent one because it increases the amount people spend in the shop.

Westie983

apart from HRMC and maybe international cheques you dont have your address on a cheque, the sort code and account number and signature which is the same detail that you have on your bank card, exactly the same, and banks do check the signature on the cheque and if it doesnt match records they dont pay the cheque.

Security comes down the both the bank and the customer, but the banks are aware of the risk of cheque fraud and have reduced the number of cheque in books now, along with the reduction of the amount customers now use.

boo_star

Anthorn wrote: »

Personally, although I have received a few cheques I haven't written a cheque in years. But let's look at how secure cheques really are: I apply for an account online, the agreement is "signed" online just by accepting the T&Cs and then I can order a cheque book if I want one. Then I can write out a cheque to authorise payment to someone and then sign it. BUT the bank has not the foggiest idea what my signature looks like but when presented honours the cheque. The cheque could have been signed by M Mouse!

Banks only manually check signatures on a very small number of cheques that are processed every day so even if they had your signature, you could still sign it "M Mouse" and there's a very good chance it would go through anyway.

Westie983

boo_star wrote: »

Banks only manually check signatures on a very small number of cheques that are processed every day so even if they had your signature, you could still sign it "M Mouse" and there's a very good chance it would go through anyway.

I check signatures on cheques everyday as the signature of the account holder comes up on the screen, this is only if its a house cheque, you wouldn't know this happens, as its done of processing, this said it is done manually and not via the paying in machines, they are manually checked but only to makes sure cheques are dated, figures and words match and the cheque is signed.

That said, that doesn't mean it wont get rejected a clearing level, and I therefore agree with you comment about they may still go through.

Banks do check signatures at clearing level though as this has happened to me, as I hadn't updated my signature on a old bank account I started to use again from when it was opened when I was 12, hence my signature had changed alot in the interim...

So I cant say that every signature is checked on every cheque but it is not a small amount as you suggested.

boo_star

Westie983 wrote: »

I check signatures on cheques everyday as the signature of the account holder comes up on the screen, this is only if its a house cheque, you wouldn't know this happens, as its done of processing, this said it is done manually and not via the paying in machines, they are manually checked but only to makes sure cheques are dated, figures and words match and the cheque is signed.

That said, that doesn't mean it wont get rejected a clearing level, and I therefore agree with you comment about they may still go through.

Banks do check signatures at clearing level though as this has happened to me, as I hadn't updated my signature on a old bank account I started to use again from when it was opened when I was 12, hence my signature had changed alot in the interim...

So I cant say that every signature is checked on every cheque but it is not a small amount as you suggested.

It should be done when the cheque is presented but in many cases (staff rushed to hit certain targets) it isn't.

At the clearing level it is literally a fraction of all cheques that end up being checked, the fraud levels are low enough that it's cheaper to not check.