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Treasury gets involved in controversy over cheques

February 5, 2010 by admin  
Filed under News, News-Banking

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Recently it was announced by the banking industry that by 2018 it was planning to phase out the use of the humble cheque altogether. Over recent years a rising number of retailers have stopped accepting cheque as a form of payment, stating that cheque use can be time consuming and costly for businesses to process. This has led to the banking industry stating that it plans to get rid of cheques altogether over the course of this decade.

However, there are many people that rely on cheques to make payments, and the decision by the banking industry to stop the use of cheques by 2018 caused concern and controversy amongst certain groups. The controversy over the abolition of cheques has now led to the Treasury getting involved, and it has told the banking industry that it does not want cheques abolished until a suitable alternative has been identified and put into place.

The banking industry has subsequently agreed to maintain regular contact with the Treasury’s Financial Inclusion Taskforce. This is an independent body that is designed to ensure that poorer consumers are able to benefit fully from banking services and other services. The Payments Council has assured the Treasury that it will make sure that new option are looked at and brought forward to ensure that consumers are not affected by the decision to get rid of cheques.

A Treasury spokesperson said that ministers were concerned over the effect that the banking industry’s decision would have on consumers, stating: ‘Ministers are pretty concerned. They are aware a lot of people still use cheques. They want to ensure those people are not adversely affected.’ The banking industry had already stated that it would be putting alternatives in place for those used to using cheques, but had provided no detail with regards to what this would be.

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