Tonight:
9°c
The death of the cheque is imminent. A third of UK businesses will stop using them to pay bills in the next 12 months, and 11% will refuse cheques as payment, according to research published today.
The shift towards payment via debit and credit cards and online BACs transfers could help small and medium businesses recoup £65 million in savings each month, according to credit information provider Creditsafe, which carried out the research.
But the cheque's demise has not always been welcomed by customers. Marks & Spencer last year sparked an outcry when it stopped accepting cheques, claiming they slow customers down at the checkout and are easy targets for fraud.
Lobby groups for the elderly condemned the move, but other High Street retailers have followed suit.
Asda, Boots, Sainsbury's, WHSmith, Next and Shell are among those who have already banned cheques from their stores.
Most shops now say cheques typically account for less than 1% of transactions.
