End of the cheque: Historic method of payment phased out by 2018… spelling woe for millions of pensioners
December 17, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
By
Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:00 AM on 17th December 2009
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Cheques could be phased out by 2018 if officials decide to abolish the 350-year-old payment method
The cheque is to be written off by 2018, the banking industry announced yesterday.
The measure will dismay the elderly, who have used cheques all their lives and are reluctant to switch.
At the same time, tradesmen and builders rely on the cheque as a daily part of their operations.
In the past, banks had a financial incentive to offer
cheques linked to the fact they would take many days, sometimes a week,
to transfer money between two parties. They would take the money out of the account of the
person who signed the cheque and then, effectively, sit on it for
several days before transferring it.
They were able to invest and earn interest on this cash, so subsidising the cost of processing the cheques and making a profit. However, new rules to speed up the clearing process were forced on the banks in 2007, which reduced their ability to cash in.
Consequently, the banks, supported by retailers, have been keen
to force the nation to move away from cheques, which cost money to
transport and process, to electronic payments, such as direct debit.
Les Scadding revealed as EuroMillions winner
November 10, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
The Scaddings from Newport pledged to swap the beaches of South Wales for the
white sands of the Caribbean as they were revealed today as Britain’s
record-breaking lottery winners.
Les Scadding, 58, and Samatha Peachey-Scadding, 38, who runs a marketing
company, have picked up a winning cheque for £45.5 million after scooping
the Euromillions jackpot. The couple, who do not select their own numbers,
were blessed by the Lucky Dip random generator in a branch of Tesco.
The other winning ticket, which shares the £91 million jackpot, was held by a
syndicate of IT workers in a Liverpool call-centre staff. They said today
that they had all handed in their notice.
Consumer champ?
July 3, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
Analysis
By Kevin Peachey
Consumer affairs reporter, BBC News
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Nobody is immune to being caught out by rip-offs - not even the new Consumer Minister, Kevin Brennan.
Beefing up
June 22, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
By Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter, BBC News, Ardeley
Entrepreneur Tim Waygood has always made his living from the land, but often in quite unexpected ways.
Twenty years ago, the farmer’s son looked at the 150-year-old family farm in the village of Ardeley, near Stevenage, and wondered if the land could be put to better use.
Personal data exposed on website
June 19, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
By Kevin Peachey and Bill Wilson
Personal finance and business reporters, BBC News
Personal data including the signatures of recipients has been exposed to those tracking deliveries on the Parcelforce website, the BBC has discovered. Read more
Art of haggling
May 5, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
By Kevin Peachey
Consumer affairs reporter, BBC News
How do you deal with people who try to argue down a price According to one charity shop manager: "They try to haggle, so I put the price up!"
Haggling might not be successful with good causes, but profit-chasing retailers are becoming more accommodating with those consumers who give it a try.
Penniless
March 24, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
By Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter, BBC News
Most twenty-somethings will complain that they have been seriously short of cash for the last year.
But it comes as some surprise when a 25-year-old says he decided not to bother with notes and coins at all. Read more
Isa age
March 20, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
By Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter, BBC News
When the tax-free Individual savings Account (Isa) was launched in April 1999, a head-banging yellow puppet called Flat Eric was starring at the top of the UK singles chart.
The government vowed that it - the Isa, not Flat Eric - would still be around 10 years later. Read more
Cash fashion
March 4, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
By Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter, BBC News
Reports predicting that cheques will soon go out of fashion have met relatively little resistance, according to payments experts.
But will the changing way we pay for things affect the way we dress
Analysis by the Payments Council, an organisation that oversees how we pay, confirms in a report out this week that people in the UK are likely to use their mobile phones to make payments as chequebooks disappear. Read more
Changing times
February 16, 2009 by samsonites · Leave a Comment
By Kevin Peachey and Carolyn Rice
Business reporters, BBC News
Consumers in the UK should expect a revolution in the way they pay for things in the near future, according to payments association Apacs.
The cheque, which is 350 years old on 16 February, is said to be in irreversible decline as innovation points towards a cashless society. Read more
