Cheques to be bounced into history
The Guardian – Do you pay the milkman by cheque? Slip a surprise cheque in a Christmas card to a grandson or granddaughter? Or maybe you simply don’t trust direct debits when dealing with gas and electricity companies?
In the future you’ll have no choice but to pay electronically, by plastic, or go online if, as expected, Britain’s banks vote tomorrow to phase out the tradition dating back more than 300 years of payment by cheque. Cheques cost up to £1 each to process ““ and the number written has been falling steadily. As recently as 2002 a typical consumer in Britain was writing 31 cheques a year, but the number fell to 14 by 2008. Big stores such as Marks & Spencer have already stopped taking cheques, and the Payments Council, which sets strategy for UK payments in Britain, says they are now used for fewer than one in 25 purchases. Scandinavian countries and Ireland have already voted to phase out cheques, and a board meeting of the Payments Council tomorrow afternoon expected to set an “end date” of 2018 for cheque clearing in Britain. Read Article
Ed – Slowly but surely the cashless society draws nearer – and no thought has been given to the civil liberties implications
Tags: financial system
