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Old-fashioned and costly, cheques are a remnant of a labour-intensive banking era. But there are strong reasons for keeping them.
Digital payments are not universally trusted and have repeatedly been shown to be vulnerable to fraud, cyber attack and power failures.
The vulnerable and elderly, in particular, believe cheques can be more reliable than electronic payments. There are no Pin numbers to remember and no need for 20:20 vision to read numbers on a screen.
A relative of mine uses hers for gifts to her nephews and great niece. She does not trust the internet, after reading so many reports of victims of banking fraud who fail to get their money back. However, she finds it harder and harder to use cheques for day-to-day transactions such as food shopping.
Cheques now account for less than 1 per cent of retail bank payments, totalling 185m transactions last year, compared with 272m in 2019. Cash too is on the decline —…
