bye-bye checks

[arminnie]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091216...MxBHNlYwN5bi1jaGFubmVsBHNsawNicml0YWluYm91bmM

LONDON (Reuters Life!) – After more than three centuries, the humble check is set to become a historic relic after British banks voted to phase it out in favor of more modern payment methods.
The board of the UK Payments Council, the body for setting payment strategy in Britain, agreed on Wednesday to set a target date of October 31, 2018 for winding up the check clearing system. The board is largely made up of Britain's leading banks.
"There are many more efficient ways of making payments than by paper in the 21st century, and the time is ripe for the economy as a whole to reap the benefits of its replacement," Paul Smee, the council chief executive, said in a statement.
The use of checks has fallen drastically in the past 10 years as more consumers transfer money electronically, by direct debit or with debit and credit cards. Last year, around 3.8 million checks were written every day in Britain, compared to a peak of 10.9 million in 1990, the council said.
It costs about one pound to process every check.
"The next generation probably won't even have a checkbook," said Addy Frederick, a spokeswoman at the payments council.
But while many UK supermarkets, high street retailers and petrol stations have stopped accepting checks, they are still a popular form of payment among elderly people, many of whom find the idea of using automated cash machines intimidating.
........

 

[andrews_dad]

Yeah. seems about right. By 2018 that should be do-able.

 

[maggiew]

Hmm. I don't write a lot of checks, but I do write some. Mostly things like girl scout cookies, school fundraisers, gifts to the nieces and nephews, etc. What is the plan for something like that? I guess cash only? You can't expect them all to have credit card machines, etc.

Maggie

 

[Piglet843]

Hmm. I don't write a lot of checks, but I do write some. Mostly things like girl scout cookies, school fundraisers, gifts to the nieces and nephews, etc. What is the plan for something like that? I guess cash only? You can't expect them all to have credit card machines, etc.

Maggie

I agree - how will people be expected to handle these situatiosn.
Also - I know most bills can be paid online now and I do that - but what about those that can't - I'm not sending cash thru the mail!

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

DH works for a very small company that pays his salary with company hand written checks, what will happen in that case, many small business owners do it this way because of the cost to them.

I have a couple of bills that I have to pay with check, because they haven't gone automated, guess I would just have to get cash.

Suzanne

 

[extremesoccermom]

I am OK with getting rid of checks. I write very few. In fact I recently had my checking account hit by identity theft and the only information they had correct was information found on my check. After pulling my checks that I have written in the past year there were 10 (6 to DD school for lunches, 1 to nephew for birthday, 1 to DMV and 1 to the Muny because they charge 3.00 to use your credit card and this was for one extra ticket).

 

[wdwfan16]

I am not against checks disappearing but there are some charities that I cannot pay electronically, since my bank cannot not verify without an account number. I send them checks.

 

[disneychrista]

The only time I write a check is for school things. Other than that I pay all my bills online & use credit or debit cards while shopping.

 

[SandrA9810]

I see that the general purchasing of items is made electronically, but there's several things that should still be paid by check. Unless all banks start offering free money orders or something... there's still going to have to be a way to securly transfer money to some one else.

 

[ilovediznee]

I know people are asking a bunch of ?''s about this, but did everyone notice it is for England (UK) only so far?

I don't write many check at all, but my husband will not pay anything on-line - all checks and stamps!

It works for me. I bet other countries will follow!

 

[bumbershoot]

I wonder what those in Britain are going to do about things like *rent*....

Obviously I'm not in England where this article was from, but I know my landlady will never take anything but that. She's not going to walk around with cash in her pocket from rent, and she had her paypal account completely ripped off, so she's never going to go that way again...

 

[akcire]

Banking technology in Europe...and in most of the world...is way ahead of the United States. First of all the IBAN system allows people to transfer money into anyone elses account, sort of like a wire transfer but with out crazy amounts of fees.

Additionally, credit cards in Europe have pin numbers (just like our debit cards) much more secure than turning the 16 year old cashier into a handwriting expert.

I am sure check usage will decline in the US, but I see it being a very LONG time before people stop using checks..(although I was amazed that Walmart jumped on the Check 21 bandwagon and digitizes their transactions)..heck something like 20% of residents in the USA do not even have a bank account.

So for those of you that love checks...I am sure you will be fine for a long time to come...please just don't be in line in front of me at the store.

 

[AlternateEgo]

Hmm. I don't write a lot of checks, but I do write some. Mostly things like girl scout cookies, school fundraisers, gifts to the nieces and nephews, etc. What is the plan for something like that? I guess cash only? You can't expect them all to have credit card machines, etc.

Maggie

This is where most of my checks go. The girls are always needing me to send them money for book orders, lunches, field trips, etc... and I always write a check because if it gets lost, its not a super bad deal.

 

[funnygarcia]

Our landlord has a bill pay set up for rent. We don't utilize it because it is on a set calendar day of their choosing which does not correlate to when my dh gets paid. We got fed up with writing checks only to find it would not be cashed for weeks (but rent is due by the 5th?).
Now dh gets free money orders thru his bank or buys them at the grocery store, we do this for school/fundraiser expenses too. It's a pain but it helps us keep track of what is in the account at all times with no worries and no "ugh, that check written two months still hasn't cleared!"

However, there are still companies (and our own govt) that have never embraced the digital age. Had to pay dh's Medicare premium thru the mail as they don't have an online bill pay option and won't take payment over the phone.

 

[ekmom]

I send money to my college student son using a people to people transfer from my ING checking account. It goes directly to his bank account. The other person doesn't have to have an ING account.

 

[CC12005]

Humm. Almost 4 million checking transactions per day for the Brits. Still seems like they use plenty to continue. Brits may get up set enough to delay the end date. If their government is anything like ours, I'm sure the plan will not be implemented until years later.