Cheque books in the UK could be phased out

The proposal has already come under fire from a number of groups -- charities for the elderly have been among those who have spoken out against the idea as well as some small businesses that will find it expensive to change to another payment system. Charities that represent older age groups fear some elderly people may find it difficult to use a new type of payment system. Andrew Harrop of Age Concern and Help the Aged, said in a statement published in the Daily Mail, "Many older people use cheques and cash for all their transactions and are uncomfortable with alternative payment methods, such as credit or debit cards with PIN numbers. To prevent older people becoming financially excluded, any plans to end the use of cheques must ensure there are alternative ways of paying which they are happy using." The number of people using cheques in the UK is falling rapidly. Several UK stores will no longer accept them, including John Lewis, Marks and Spencer and Sainsburys. Some smaller stores no longer take cheques due to to the high costs involved. A meeting is scheduled for the middle of December when a board made up of 15 members from the Payments Council will decide how to proceed. Phasing out cheque books would save the banking industry a considerable amount of money and electronic forms of payment are growing in popularity. If the decision is made to stop issuing cheque books, this will not get underway until 2018 and consumers are assured by the Payments Council that an alternative system will have been put in to place by then.