Is the UK cheque book on the way out?
The Payments Council is set to rule on the potential abolition of cheque-books in the UK in what many people see as an inevitable move although others appear to be angered. Even though there are still 4 million cheques written each and every day in the UK this figure is down two thirds over the last 20 years and is expected to fall to around 1.6 million cheques a day in 2018.
The Payments Council is looking at the potential to phase out cheques by 2018 which would place more emphasis and more importance on debit cards, credit cards and direct debits. While the vast majority of people in the UK will probably have never written a cheque in the recent past there are many, particularly those of older years, who feel happier paying by cheque. However, unfortunately this particular option looks likely to be removed in the medium term and various charities such as Help The Aged have already voiced their concern.
Aside from the fact that many people feel more at ease writing cheques to pay bills, etc, we have seen some problems with direct debits and the cloning of debit and credit cards has been on the rise for some time.
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