Banks send checks into the recycle bin of history!
LONDON, England - December 17, 2009 - The days of the checkbook are now officially numbered. It is exactly 350 years since Nicholas Vanacker signed his name to a piece of paper, and made £400 payable to a - presumably very trusting - Mr. Delboe.
Like cassette tapes and other casualties of the digital age, the checkbook will be going the way of Woolworths; its demise prompting a nostalgic reaction from those who might not have used one in years, but just liked knowing that they were there.
Its fate was sealed yesterday, when the Payments Council decided to abolish the method, which has been in decline for 20 years. Bank customers now have until October 2018 to use up their dog-eared checkbooks.
The decision has led to practical concerns. Small business owners, sole traders, and community groups that accept payment only by cash or check say that they will suffer, and charities say that the change will leave millions of elderly people more vulnerable to financial exclusion and fraud.
Although four million checks are still written every day this is down from 11 million at the system’s peak, in 1990. The high processing cost - about £1 per check - has hastened the decline.
Like cassette tapes and other casualties of the digital age, the checkbook will be going the way of Woolworths; its demise prompting a nostalgic reaction from those who might not have used one in years, but just liked knowing that they were there.
Its fate was sealed yesterday, when the Payments Council decided to abolish the method, which has been in decline for 20 years. Bank customers now have until October 2018 to use up their dog-eared checkbooks.
The decision has led to practical concerns. Small business owners, sole traders, and community groups that accept payment only by cash or check say that they will suffer, and charities say that the change will leave millions of elderly people more vulnerable to financial exclusion and fraud.
Although four million checks are still written every day this is down from 11 million at the system’s peak, in 1990. The high processing cost - about £1 per check - has hastened the decline.
