“Please make cheques payable to”

[asatelliteisnttoofarright]

I went for a private healthcare appointment recently and just got the invoice in the post.

It says that the preferred payment method is a cheque! I’m in my 20s and have never written a cheque before. AIBU to think they need to update their payment terms?

My husband is a doctor and only started taking online payments for his private work a year or two ago, at which time he started sending out email invoices instead of posting them. He still gets cheques from his more elderly patients.

Yes I got one a few weeks ago

App wouldn't accept as the sender decided my title without asking me. I went to the bank, had asked a member of staff of I could pay it in. Yes just go to the desk, went to desk told to use machine. I laughed and said if the machine would take it I'd use the machine. It cleared within 24 hours which was impressive.

I’ve had the “we are card only”, as soon as I’ve said “no problem, I’ll go somewhere else”, they suddenly accept cash.

I mean, that's life. Not everything in life runs to our timetable. Calling to sort a payment or appointment during a lunch break is fairly normal.

I’m aware that’s life.

But as I have said. In 2026 it’s reasonable to expect that online payment methods are the norm.

Why though? Cash is dirty (literally! It’s filthy) and inconvenient

I love me a cheque, both sending and receiving. I'm with HSBC and I get new chequebooks sent automatically.

I’m with you OP - I have never once paid over the phone via card for anything, and the last (and only) time I wrote a cheque was as a student in 2009 and even then it felt old fashioned.

Except it used to be normal. Technology progressed. There are better, faster and more flexible ways now. I haven’t had to “make a call on my lunch break” in a decade.

What’s there to get? A cheque is a weird way of paying in 2026 and OP is simply discussing that.

and obviously you don’t need to use the phone as a phone to pay by Apple Pay or bank transfer, which takes a minute or two vs making a phone call, explaining what you want, reading out numbers etc.

i had to phone a card payment to a court last year- I probably only do that once or twice a year

When all systems go down (it happens) you'll find that it's very, very convenient to have cash.

It’s unlikely to take more than 3/5 minutes

Weak arguement and many of your points are factually incorrect - in fact the opposite is true - online payments are faster, less
susceptible to fraud, and less susceptible to mistakes.

Last time I had to do it was when my card had declined in specsavers (neither of us realised, it was one of those where you needed to put it in for the pin but it was busy), and she called me to ask me to pay. When I tell you neither of us could work it out and it took about ten minutes 🤣

As long as they answer the phone straight away.

Why do you think this? The only reason a company need you to call in is because they don’t have the tech installed so customers can do it online.

This is a completely ridiculous post -- first because of course is is old-fashioned and slightly odd for a private hospital to require payment either by cheque or a phone call, and secondly because "blogging about it" (aka relaxing by chatting on MN) is not "making the process more painful", It is just chatting on MN.

Sure. But for the other 99.999% of the time cashless rules.

It happens very rarely.

realistically I have what I need already on my phone (bus pass to get home), so I’d be fine. If all systems genuinely did go down, to the point no card works ever, we’re in a lot of trouble and the last thing on your mind will be paying cash for some clothes.

Not really. If “all systems go down” I wouldn’t be able to withdraw any anyway. And what would I need to spend money on that badly that couldn’t wait until systems were back up?

They’ll have a phone triage. It could even just be an automated system rather than to a person

I'll tell you who uses cheques.
My ex!
Every month I get my paltry child maintenance cheque in the post. Thankfully I can pay it in online now. Before then I could take it to the post office, but with our village one now closed getting to a PO is a pain.

Also the Post Office sent me a compensation cheque (when they lost my passport and important docs.....). It was too big for online paying in. You'd think the PO would know that.

Also, Premium Bonds wins, though I get that auto transferred now.

This is very common.

Many private consultants use this method but some do outsource to a centralised patient payment service where you can access your invoice and pay online.

I don't know why you're reacting- just phone.

Some people can't use the Internet to get car insurance and must call as underwriters are required or they need to add more than 3 cars or more drivers or a whole combination of reasons they can't take out a policy online. Most people who need to make a mid term adjustment also need to phone and if their policy isn't on DD then a card payment is required. Not everyone can get DD for insurance either.

That's car insurance, health insurance will be so much more complicated it's unlikely any of it is done on the Internet. (Online)

Fuck me.

God forbid anyone expresses an opinion on anything?