UK plans to phase out cheques by 2018
A British financial body says cheques will be phased out by the year 2018 in Britain because there are much more efficient ways of making payments than by paper in the 21st century.
The U.K.’s Payments Council, whose members include many major British banks, said check use has been in “long-term, terminal decline.” It said check use was down 40 percent in the past five years.
Pensioners’ groups and small businesses protested the decision. The council said Wednesday it would promote alternative payment methods to make sure consumers would not find the check withdrawal too inconvenient.
None of Britain’s major supermarket chains accepts checks. Most gas stations and retailers don’t accept them either because of the high costs of processing them.
