Even though the majority of personal and business bank account providers in the UK have backed off plans to scrap the cheque, the Post Office has recently told its customers to leave their chequebooks at home.
No longer can Post Office customers pay by cheque if they want to buy monthly bus tickets or renew their passport. Instead those doing business at the banking provider must use either cash or credit card, the Post Office said.
While campaigners are urging the Post Office to reconsider, the bank said that the policy change was prompted by the June 30 closure of the cheque guarantee scheme. Consumer Focus financial services expert, Oliver Morgans, remarked that he was disappointed in the Post Office’s decision, as a large number of consumers still rely quite heavily on using their chequebooks.
Older people in particular may be in for frustration and inconvenience, said Mr Morgans, due to their high rate of cheque use. Consumer Focus would prefer the Post Office to review their recent decision in the interests of being a responsible banking provider, added the financial services expert.
The Post Office’s new policy now bars customers from cashing cheques unless they have both permission from their bank and they have a disability.
The Payments Council decided in 2009 that cheques would be phased out by 2018. However, the panel, which is mainly comprised of banking institutions, abruptly backpedaled, remarking that cheques would insted remain available as long as they are in demand.
However, with the Post Office’s recent policy decision, campaigners for cheque viability have raised fears that retailers and banks will continue their efforts to phase out checks by other, more stealthier means, due to the much greater expense associated with their processing in comparison to electronic payment methods.