Dizzy Posted June 17, 2011 Report Share Posted June 17, 2011 Do you still use cheques or accept them as a form of payment from others ? Be warned... after 30th June they will no longer be 'guaranteed' by the banks although people can continue to pay with or accept cheques if they want to. Acceptors fact sheet... http://www.ukpayments.org.uk/files/press_release_files/guaranteed_cheques_acceptors_fact_sheet_sept_09.pdf consumers fact sheet... http://www.ukpayments.org.uk/files/press_release_files/guaranteed_cheques_consumers_fact_sheet_sept_09.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 I still use cheques for payment off some things. Credit card repayment for one. Just write them a cheque and send it in the post. I suppose I could pay them over the phone instead. Items I have to buy from websites I will occasionally write a cheque for. Again though I could make payments over the phone. Repairs to my car are currently paid by cheque as the people I deal with do not currently have the facility for using a debit card although I suppose they could just call a number to get it authorized( will have to check that one). May have to start paying in cash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 Cashless society, no cheques. We'll be swopping goods next in good old-fashioned bartering. I don't see how cheques can go. If you have a pc you can pay directly into the account of the person owed the money. But if you pay over the phone you have to give the security number on the back of the card, is this 100% safe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 Repairs to my car are currently paid by cheque as the people I deal with do not currently have the facility for using a debit card although I suppose they could just call a number to get it authorized( will have to check that one). May have to start paying in cash And once they phone the number and have a machine installed they pay monthly line rental on it and also charges for the amount of use/transactions it has Interestingly, at one time cheques used to take 5 days to clear before arriving in a businesses bank account but debit/credit card payments went in immediately at close of business hence more people moved to using them more often. BUT NOW it seems to be taking 3 to 4 days for electronic to reach the business bank account too. Mmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 Cashless society, no cheques. We'll be swopping goods next in good old-fashioned bartering. Keep growing those vegies Peter they may come in usefull one day I don't see how cheques can go. If you have a pc you can pay directly into the account of the person owed the money. But if you pay over the phone you have to give the security number on the back of the card, is this 100% safe? I've often wondered that when paying over the phone and nothing is 100% safe I guess it just depends on the integrity of the person on the other end. Automated phone payment lines are even less secure. I often pay our gas/elec bills which are in my name using my other halfs card and it only asks for the bill account number, big number on card and the security number on the back and never has it realised that the bill is Miss X and they card belongs to Mr Y. Like I said though we can all continue to accept/write cheques even though they are no longer guaranteed (so presumably most businesses will definately stop accepting them now for obvious reasons) butcheques are supposed to be completely phased out by October 2018. 7 years to get used to it I suppose and 7 years for the electronic scammers to get even more inventive too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 It's only the cheque GUARANTEE card scheme which is going - and since most cards only guarantee a cheque up to ?50 (sometimes as much as ?100) then it's already not much use to anyone. Even an MOT costs more than ?50 these days! You'll still be able to write a cheque to pay someone, but the bank isn't going to guarantee it so the person you're paying will probably want your name and address or something so they can track you down if it bounces - just like they used to in the days before guarantee cards. The banks DID want to get rid of cheques completely, but are not being allowed to do so until they've managed to prove to the FSA that there are secure, accessible alternatives available to all customers. Contactless technology and mobile phone wallets aren't up to the job yet, so any decision has been put off until 2016 at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverlady54 Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 I presume, from reading the news articles about cheques that they will have to come up with an alternative that doesn't require a lot of people to carry wads of cash around. Unless we are all going to have to carry little machines around with us for immediate electronic debit payments, I can't see it happening any time soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 The alternative is already here SL by way of credit/debit cards, electronic/internet bill paying and cash. Oh and of course these new high tech phones that you can apparently just hold up to the scaner and pay electronically in the shop from your bank (or something like that anyway I must google) Won't get me paying like that though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverlady54 Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 But just imagine having to have enough cash to pay the piano teacher, the gym club, the garage that doesn't have a card machine and any school payments all on the same day and people you would normally pay by cheque! Too much cash to carry on you, we would all be security risks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 Do you not have a debit card SL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted June 18, 2011 Report Share Posted June 18, 2011 I found out today that my wife was persuaded (duped) into taking out a credit card together with a card protection policy because according to Nat West, cheques are going to become outdated very soon. She's never had a credit card in her life and has managed quite well up till now with her standard debit card. Seems to me that the bank have made little or no attempt to look at her real needs and just acted as sales people. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverlady54 Posted June 19, 2011 Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 Do you not have a debit card SL Yes I do, Dizzy, and I use it instead of cash. My point is though, you can't pay anyone by debit card unless they have a machine to process it, and many of the small self-employed people don't have them and are unlikely to be able to afford one. Even my garage in Stockton Heath doesn't have one, he thinks it is too expensive to rent one and always takes cheques. I certainly wouldn't want to carry the amount of cash in my pocket to pay him!! If push came to shove, I guess many small businesses would have to close rather than use their profits to finance an expensive card machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted June 19, 2011 Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 That was my argument with Nat West SL54. If small businesses can?t accept debit cards, then they?re not going to be able to accept a credit card either! I have a credit card but only use it once in a blue moon. The only reason I got one is that many overseas car hire companies wont accept cash and think you?re a bit dodgy if you don?t have one. To them, the card is proof that someone?s checked your credit rating and issued you with the card, therefore you must be good for the money. The irony is of course that in the majority of cases, the reverse is true and people use the card mainly to obtain credit. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfie Posted June 19, 2011 Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 It's the small businesses and charities that willl suffer the most from not being able to use cheques, but the banks want to see the end of the use of cheques, so it will happen in the near future, whether we like it or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 The Enid Blighton Charity is closing because of the decline in cheques http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/8581340/Enid-Blyton-charity-to-close-because-of-cheque-downfall.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 Do you not have a debit card SL Yes I do, Dizzy, and I use it instead of cash. My point is though, you can't pay anyone by debit card unless they have a machine to process it, and many of the small self-employed people don't have them and are unlikely to be able to afford one. Even my garage in Stockton Heath doesn't have one, he thinks it is too expensive to rent one and always takes cheques. I certainly wouldn't want to carry the amount of cash in my pocket to pay him!! If push came to shove, I guess many small businesses would have to close rather than use their profits to finance an expensive card machine. Actually now I think about it you are quite right SL. I was thinking more of the types of businesses with premises but of course there are the more mobile small self-emplyed businesses too... painters and decorators, gardeners, property repairs infact the list is huge. Obviously these people wont have switch machines and like you say paying by cash is not always possible due to the amount and of course not that secure. If you ever have a come back and you have paid cash you have no real proof that you paid (apart from a receipt I suppose). Now if more of these small businesses are forced to only accept cash then surely a lot of that cash 'could' go straight into their pocket rather than through the banks etc and therefore at the end of the tax year Mr HMRC will not be getting as much tax Maybe there's a good side to it after all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted June 19, 2011 Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 Cheques are safe until 2018 at least - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13781682 - and even beyond that if suitable alternatives aren't test, accepted and in place by 2016. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 Yes they are safe until 2018 but after 30 June 2011 banks will no longer guarantee them and more and more businesses are already starting to refuse to take them. So maybe it would be a good idea if the Government, rather than talking wind, actually forced the banks to come up with a viable alternative sooner rather than later. Who's pulling who's strings as the banks seem to be ruling things these days but I guess they always have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lister Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 I use them to transfer money between my current account and savings, but only because I haven't linked the current account card to my savings card on online banking yet. Once I've done that I won't need a cheque book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inky pete Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 The guarantee card only ever guaranteed cheques up to £50 anyway. Can't remember the last time I paid a garage or a tradesman with a cheque for less than £50! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted June 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Must admit having thought about it the only times I have used cheques in the past year is to pay the milkman, sons school/college stuff, and to pay credit card payments and hmrc. I rarley have to pay for any car repairs which is good It's nice being able to write cheques if needed but in reality I suppose could do without if I had to. I do receive cheques from time to time (not very often though sadly)but not of anyone that I couldn't find if they bounced. Mother-in-law on the other hand does not use credit/debit cards at all as she doesn't understand them and only pays with cheques or cash (mostly cash regardless of the amount which we keep telling her is NOT a good idea). I guess the younger generation are used to not using cheques whereas the much older generation are more used to cheques and cash and find it difficult to change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Indeed, why should they change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted July 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 So after two years of looking into an alternative and also after announcing that the use of cheques would stop in 2018.....the plans to scrap cheques has just been scrapped What a blummin' wast of time and effort that was eh but at least they saw sense in the end http://latestnews.virginmedia.com/news/uk/2011/07/12/plans_to_scrap_cheques_dropped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Seems, for once, that the convenience of the Banks has given way to the needs of their customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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