So cheques will not be needed at all by 2018??? So how will I then pay for...

[Miggsie]

the plumber
the washing machine repair man

...I suppose as businesses they will have to carry around a little card reader?

What about:

my cleaner
school meals
DD dance school
DD's french teacher

will they all have to register for card readers?

Will I have to carry loads of cash around to pay them?

Several million cheques are still written each year...it's hardly a minority interest service is it?

With my cynical hat on I think it is more to do with the banks wanting to sack the staff who currently sit and process cheques.

Oh, and every time you use a card reader, don't the banks get 10p or something???!!!

see cheques to be ended: here

I heard someone from the Payments Council on Radio 4 saying that by announcing that cheques will be ending, they hope people will develop other ways to pay.

You could pay your cleaner, and teachers by direct payment already. Wouldn't be that hard.

i use cheques all the time. what about birthday cash gifts? and i imagine it would worry pensioners

The article says they'll only be phased out if viable alternatives are in use.

And it talks about being able to transfer money by mobile phone. That might work.

we (well DH - I don't even have a cheque book ) wrote a cheque for the first time in about 3yrs this month - but that was only because the boiler man came to service the boiler and I'd forgotten he was coming so didn't have the cash/

I hate writing cheques, and even worse is receiving one as it is such a faff to go to bank to pay in £4.50.

I already pay my teenage babysitter directly from my bank account to hers, because I am incapable of keeping cash in my purse.

School is probably the recipient of most of my cheques - but it wouldn't be hard to pay them directly if they were geared up for it.

you could pay all those things direct to their bank account online. easy peasy.

I do a lot of direct payments rather than cheques in situations where I don't use either cards or cash. I pay DS's school fees and my trainer by transfer for instance. In many ways I prefer it, it doesn't take that much longer than writing a cheque and you know when it's leaving the account etc.

I am the treasurer of an art club, and our members pay their class fees to me. At the moment I get about 50/50 cash/cheques. I don't see how I'm going to be able to have a little card reader, and am not at all sure that we'll be able to use direct money transfers either - and it sounds like a whole lot more hassle than what I do at the moment, tbh.

Where is this change going to leave small groups like ours?

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I've heard a couple of interviews today with representatives from the Payments Council, and in the second one, small groups like yours were specifically mentioned, likewise older people who are still nervous of cards. We've got 9 years for this all to be worked out, and they are aware of the potential problems.

I was thinking about this for things like Cubs. Also, when you have the Book People round to work (better and cheque than cash that could go missing) and also for sending money in for school trips and stuff - at least with a cheque you can prove they've cashed it when they say you haven''t paid...

The class fees aren't the same each term because they are based on the number of weeks in the term, so it couldn't be done by standing order or direct debit - that's what I meant.

I suppose that members could have the bank account details and transfer the money in by phone each term, but we have a large proportion of OAPs in the group who will, I suspect, struggle with this.

volunteer-led groups are going to be hit
it's going to make things awkward at the toddler group. Also the majority of village halls/scout huts etc won't be set up to receive electronic payments for rental, bill paying etc.

I sent a cheque off this morning to pay for a holiday cottage. I would have been happy to do this electronically but many people aren't/can't

nonsense, we use cheques for the playschool as they have to be double signed thus meaning no one person can go on a spending spree with company money.

no card/cash system offers that security

But a direct payment would show up on your bank statement in much the same way as a cashed cheque - no less proof.

The whole point of this is that they will develop new ways of moving money - I'm not sure why people seem to be so anxious about it?

x posts all thinking same thing!

God, I still use loads of cheques for school, clubs etc. I also work for a small charity and we take the majority of our donations by cheque.

These alternatives had better be well thought through and effective!

LOL at this thread :-) I have just moved here from Oz and tbh, hardy anyone in Oz accepts cheques. Even the schools!! I got a chq book for the first time when I moved here.

In oz, I paid all by direct debit, cash etc. Pretty much all invoices have the bank sort code and account number on them, and then the accounts person just reconciles the bank accounts each day/week. I used to just print off the statement from our online banking account each day and tally off who had paid. Tis a pretty easy thing to do :-) Small community groups just need to register for online banking and their treasurer just needs to log in every morning - saves having to go down the bank and stand in line and count tiny little pieces of paper. Can e doen from the comfort of the office/home. Very Easy.

On the odd occaision I needed cash ( I rarely carry any!!) for say, the capet cleaner, i just popped down to the shop a few minutes b4 they were due.

You say they wont e "set up but all they honesty have to do is give people their sort codes and account numbers. NOT passwords etc so it is secure. If they dont have online banking, just ask for the transactions list at the counter.

Re "spending sprees"...most companies in Oz use company credit cards. Again they can e checked and if someone has done the wrong thing they have to pay it back or get charged with fraud.

Cant see the problem tbh!!

I think you would also find that there will be less "skimming" of accounts without a cash system as well. It is a bit harder to say you have/havent paid if there is an electronic transfer.

Also, personal cheques are seen as very unsecure in Oz, as the person writing it can put a stop on it or it might boune. For once off transient transactions (you dont know the person , for example) you have no recourse!! NO government branch, as far as i know, accepts them. Cash, direct debit or bank cheque, or postal order only.

Sorry about the typos two year old hanging off my arm/lap!

I think we need universal broadband access before we can do everything online. There are still many areas of the country with very slow internet connections.

Tulips makes a very good point about needing more than one signatory to authorise funds. We have two-to-sign cheques for the PTA. When we asked about computer banking, they said it would have to change to one-to-authorise.

Bramsott - you can still do it, it just takes longer!!

Also, you can walk into a bank with a sort/account code and say "can i put 50 pounds in this account please?" Done!!

My children's scout group prefers parents to pay by standing order. Paying by cheque is positively discouraged because of the high banking fee.