MSE News: Cheques will NOT be axed after U-turn

Former_MSE_Guy · 12 July 2011 at 4:30PM

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"The move, which ends the proposed abolition of cheques in 2018, has been met with joy by elderly charities ..."

Read the full story:

Cheques will NOT be axed after U-turn

edd921 · 12 July 2011 at 4:48PM

[FONT=&quot]The reason retailers have stopped accepting cheques surely is because they're not guaranteed anymore, since the Cheque Guarantee scheme folded on 30 June?[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

premierfella · 12 July 2011 at 5:05PM

So cheques saved because of the lobbying or.....

cheques saved because an alternative to cheques was a prerequisite for their demise and the costs attached to setting up that alternative may have been higher than the cost of maintaining a cheque payment system, use of which is contracting naturally anyway?

I think I know which of the above is more likely.

pmduk · 12 July 2011 at 5:25PM

I hope the people campaigning to save cheques are prepared to pay the higher costs involved with clearing them.

JuicyJesus · 12 July 2011 at 5:34PM

What a pity.

They're fraud prone, slow and outmoded. They really need to die.

Torry_Quine · 12 July 2011 at 5:34PM

This is really good news. I don't use cheques very often but need them for paying local tradesmen. They are also useful for sending to people as a gift.

Consumerist · 12 July 2011 at 6:57PM

This decision just confirms, for me, that the financial industry is run by utter dipsticks who don't seem to have a brain cell between them and who prefer to lie and cheat rather than provide an honest service.

verybigchris · 12 July 2011 at 8:51PM

In April, I transferred from one internet-only Cash ISA to another. You'd think the old provider would send the balance electronically to the new one, wouldn't you?

Nope. Took three weeks for two major banks to send each other letters, then one posted a cheque, then the other waited for it to clear. And all the while we're being told that "banks want to get rid of cheques".

Paulgonnabedebtfree · 12 July 2011 at 11:40PM

Well I'm very pleased with this announcement. I rarely write cheques myself but I have a one man window cleaning business and plenty of my customers still pay by cheque. I have gradually been nudging them over to bank transfers and plenty have gone for it. However, many won't or can't do it. Some of my older customers wouldn't even know how to switch on a computer if they had one (although telephone banking could be used). I even have several situations where they struggle to remember me when I turn up due to the foggy thinking some people get as they age. These customers would probably even struggle with cheques but tend to be at home and pay by cash.
I'm sure that cheques will end one day but it might not be until we have a whole generation that has lived in a more technological age.

pmduk · 12 July 2011 at 11:50PM

edd921 wrote: »

[FONT=&quot]The reason retailers have stopped accepting cheques surely is because they're not guaranteed anymore, since the Cheque Guarantee scheme folded on 30 June?[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

Retailers stopped accepting cheques because of the higher levels of fraud associated with them, despite the cheque guarantee scheme. Most stopped well before the end of the cheque guarantee scheme.

mustrum_ridcully · 13 July 2011 at 9:48AM

pmduk wrote: »

I hope the people campaigning to save cheques are prepared to pay the higher costs involved with clearing them.

So what are these "higher costs", compared to debit/credit card and cash handling?

MSE News: Cheques will NOT be axed after U-turn

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