Letter: Check with us before abolishing cheques
Friday 17th September 2010, 7:37AM BST.
Letter: I’ve just written a cheque to a small charity. Last week I paid my milkman with a cheque and posted a cheque to a local builder.
I’ve just received a new debit card from my bank with a note that this would no longer act as a cheque guarantee card as the banks have decided to stop issuing cheque guarantee cards.
Isn’t it time banks realised they are there to serve the needs of customers and not their own convenience?
It may well be more convenient to the banks if transactions are electronic, but small businesses, charities and clubs will suffer as the banks progressively squeeze out the humble cheque.
Dr Charles West
Shrewsbury and Atcham Liberal Democrats
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Everytime you hand over a cheque you are handing over a piece of paper containing your Name,address,bank details and copy of your signature..
If thats not inviting fraud then i don’t know what is..
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“but small businesses, charities and clubs will suffer as the banks progressively squeeze out the humble cheque”
And if cheques stay, then more “small businesses, charities and clubs” will continue to be scammed by rogue people who cheques bounce but still get goods.
The whole point of electronic transactions is that it’s more secure and the money goes straight away.
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I doubt the charity, the milkman or the builder required a cheque guarantee card, so even without one they can still bank your cheque – at least until 2018, when they will eventually be phased out.
The demise of the cheque is being led by the major retailers, not the banks, who have stopped accepting them due to the high processing costs compared with electronic transactions.
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Surely, people should have the choice regardless of who is ‘leading it’.
Online fraud outstrips cheque fraud by a huge margin. We leave a trail of personal information everywhere we go and cheques are no more risky than anything else.
The fact is that I sign and receive cheques for over half a million pounds every year. I also pay my credit card off every month by cheque. Contractors are paid by cheque by their customers. Some invoicing systems require adjustment at the customers end before payment so a simple BACS request is not acceptable.
They are still very popular with small businesses and individuals but the campaign against them is welcomed by large organisations who just move figures around on a computer screen because it’s cheaper for them without a care about who it affects in the real world.
Cards and bank transfers are great but leave cheques and cash for those who need them.
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Cheques should have gone years ago and been replaced by a chip and pin type machine issued to all customers. It is very few who now like to take cheques and the hassle to go with them a cheque G card guarantees nothing if you bank choose to bounce it due to lack of funds and if you are a small business that costs you not the writer of the cheque, it should all be bank transfer, d/d, s/o, cash , or something knew which I believe the banks are to introduce anyway.This cheque business with 3 day-5 days to clear is a old hat and just benefits the bank and the cheque writer.
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It costs a business more in bank charges to receive and bank cheques than to accept card payment.
And cheques no longer take 3-5 days to clear, they now take 5-7 days to clear (a sneaky extension bought in some years ago)
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However, the cost of hiring a chip and pin from the bank is prohibitively high for private tradesmen/small businesses with a relatively small number of transactions per month. In that case, paying to cash cheques is much more cost effective.
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It is but the banks have developed a new product to replace the cheque on par with chip and pin for use of current account holders and small business ,so cost will not be an issue.
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True Panda, my employer accepts both cheques and we have a credit card terminal and the charges to the retailer by some credit card companies are ridiculous. American Express is the worst which is why most retailers don’t take it. So I can see why smaller retailers don’t take cards sometimes, they’d have to increase their prices to absorb the card charges and thus make their business uncompetitive.
However most small retailers won’t accept cheques either for fear of fraud so that kind of negates the argument against a little.
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So what happens if I want to send a cheque for a relatives birthday? I can hardly expect them to have a chip and pin machine!
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Buy a gift voucher, do people really send a cheque as a gift , Very clinical .
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how i hark for the return of the groat and sixpence
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OH just noticed the original letter is from a lib dem who cares what they think , hey westie the torys think it is a great idea so tow the line boy.
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Open a PayPal account or use on-line bill pay. Move on and quit whining.
There is nothing more irritating than being stuck in a queue behind some fogie writing a cheque. Except maybe people who think banks are there for the convenience of their customers rather than to make money while tolerating their customers. Not necessarily right, but true.
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If you are in favour of online banking then why are you in a line in a bank anyway???
After the terrible trouble I have had with my bank this month, Id gladly stand behind an old fogie writing a cheque. Is your life really in that much of a rush that you can not be patient for a minute or so?
Too many fraudsters have got my credit card details and obviously abuse them. The bank then stops my cards every fortnight and I can not go about my daily business in Europe relying on my bank and credit cards.
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Nothing like good, old fashioned cash, especially for my birthday!
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I currently use very few personal cheques, but I am also involved with a number of small organisations for which the only current practical alternative to cheques is cash. I do not wish to see cheques phased out until some suitable alternative is available.
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Having no local bank (They closed our branch and the nearest cashpointis 6 miles away where I can only draw out £300).
I recently refurbished my new home and spent over £50’000.
How am I supposed to pay tradesmen (12 in total) in cash, when I just can’t get it?.
Cheques still do have their place.
I could get a bankers draft (have to pay for it, travel, queue, time etc) or pay my tradesmen cash (I don’t think so!!).
There just isn’t an alternative.
I feel a revolution!!!.
Why are the banks controlling us?.
We employ them!
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Well try a banker transfer safe and easy and your contractors get paid quicker works for us..
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