Cheques: does anybody still use them?

[Serial_Apologist]

Answer is: yes I DO use them. And my bank has muttered about NOT repeating a cheque book except on request. Ludicrous. Typical metro-centred response from a bank.

First they shut ALL the banks in this town within weeks of each other, and then tell us we can't use cheques. Bloomin', self-serving cheek.

This comes at the tail end of a long period of subtle coercion - starting around the time of the Millennium when your local bank presented itself and its charmingly helpful manager, who had mailed you a signed proforma letter with you name penned into the "Dear ..." slot, inviting you for a friendly chat for him or her to recommend some alternative options to having a couple of bank accounts. Come to think about it it started earlier than that, because in 1974 our employer told us that from now on we would not be receiving our wages in cash but paid into a bank account, so we'd better have one, and the large engineering firm I was employed in actually arranged for LLoyds TSB to open a branch (portacabin) on the works premises. But anyway, you toddled along, waited your turn, luxuriating in air-conditioned musak enhanced surrounds, and after wading through glossy documents and pamphlets, signed your soul away to either a managed investment scheme that would avoid paying income tax to that nasty government that wastes your money, or a mortgage where the possibility of enlumberment in negative equity when house prices fell wouild be at best an incidental add-on to the seduc... the induction process. You left with bulging inside jacket pocket and a smile on your face, stopping briefly to avail yourself of the ATM for some useful pocket change. Then the new manager came in with a fanfare of "Hi, I'm Graham, you can always talk to me". Then they mailed you to say it would be much more convenient for you, the client, to do all you banking online, and here's a telephone connection to your local manager should problems arise. Then the nearest branch closed, with no letter of regret or apology from your guardian angel manager, just a sheet of A4 with a "sorry we're closing, your nearest branch is 4 miles away", and a metal plate covering the space previously occupied by the ATM. That dependable phone number that used to be on paperwork, together with a name and address to write to for ultimately sorting out those problems, are no longer there, you now notice. It's answer machine,wait your turn with Vivaldi over the earpiece, phone back when our lines are less busy, or nowt.

Which brings us to now, and the eternal anxiety that this computer on whcih I pour out my fears might get infected by some enemy attack I myself was responsble for inflicting on myself by clicking away some weird pop up that just happened to coincide with my latest password change - the tenth this year - and emptied my bank account of every last penny. It turns out that the investment companies had also been raided, and the money I'd invested in managed investment funds also had been raided by the same source. It's all over Channel 4 news that evening, with Jon Snow tripping over his words more than usual explaining they had tried to get hold of a government minister but none was available, and then a newsflash statement at the end to the effect that all banking transactions and movements on the stock exchange had been suspended. You rush off to 3 miles down the road to the now-nearest cash machine to buffer yourself over the immediate crisis with a couple of hundred quid, and the machine is down. Pedestrians are rushing up and down, frantically tapping their mobile phones, and you just hears a squealing of breaks followed by a loud crash and a lot of swearing. You're on your own - maybe that's as well; do you really want to quarrel over the mass of imponderables facing you and your loved ones? What good will that do?

But somewhere back in the distant past that seemed to promise so much you almost forgot, your friend's wife had made a decision to retire early from her job at Lloyds TSB, unable to square her conscience with the crap financial and insurance schemes and mortgages she was promising clients in return for the more she sold, the higher the additional incentive payments to her income, and the prospects for promotion, maybe to branch manager, maybe eventually to regional manager, or tha alternative: side linement as others passed by on their ways up the greasy pole to security, Bupa care, and private schools for the kids.

[LMcD]

Yes, we still use them occasionally. Our 1-hour-a-fortnight gardener and the once-every-8-weeks lady who does our feet (podiatrist? pedicurist?) are both happy to accept cheques, and some of the local clubs we belong to which don't have online payment facilities also request cheques (or cash at a pinch) if, for example, we're booking a trip or booking a meal.

[Pianorak]

Yes, I do - for the piano tuner, bless.

[johnb]

Last month I used cheques for the first time in years when I sent two pairs of Sebago shoes to a specialist Sebago repairer. (He did a great job, including some hand stitching of the uppers.)

[cloughie]

Yes, we still use them occasionally. Our 1-hour-a-fortnight gardener and the once-every-8-weeks lady who does our feet (podiatrist? pedicurist?) are both happy to accept cheques, and some of the local clubs we belong to which don't have online payment facilities also request cheques (or cash at a pinch) if, for example, we're booking a trip or booking a meal.

Yes ideal for that kind of activity and for receipt of charity donations for our singing activities!

[MrGongGong]

I sent a blank one to the Arts Council today as evidence of my bank details
hopefully they will send me money to make some more sounds

[pastoralguy]

Answer is: yes I DO use them. And my bank has muttered about NOT repeating a cheque book except on request. Ludicrous. Typical metro-centred response from a bank.

First they shut ALL the banks in this town within weeks of each other, and then tell us we can't use cheques. Bloomin', self-serving cheek.

Goes to show you get NOTHING in return for a trillion pounds these days...

[pastoralguy]

I receive a cheque from one of the organisations I work for in regard of mileage allowances. It's not that much and certainly under a £100 but I can photograph it and use that to pay it into my Bank of Scotland online account. Why it takes five working days to process is still a mystery to me!

[Dave2002]

Shouldn't happen now post GDPR. Any use of your data has to be stated and details given of how to opt out, if there isn't a tick box option.

Oh sure - everybody and every organisation is going to follow the rules! That should be on the Joke thread.

[ahinton]

I sent a blank one to the Arts Council today as evidence of my bank details
hopefully they will send me money to make some more sounds

Good luck with that...

[oddoneout]

Oh sure - everybody and every organisation is going to follow the rules! That should be on the Joke thread.

The fact that penalties exist and have been implemented has focused minds. Yes, not all goes as it should, in some cases trying to get away with it, in others through ignorance. Either way, as individuals we also have some responsibility to challenge bad practice, whether that be reading the small print(mail order has some deemed consent quirks I found out a while back), making use of the relevant tick boxes, asking questions if in doubt, if protection of personal data is important to us.

[MrGongGong]

Good luck with that...

They did say they would
so hopefully

[Dave2002]

The fact that penalties exist and have been implemented has focused minds. Yes, not all goes as it should, in some cases trying to get away with it, in others through ignorance. Either way, as individuals we also have some responsibility to challenge bad practice, whether that be reading the small print(mail order has some deemed consent quirks I found out a while back), making use of the relevant tick boxes, asking questions if in doubt, if protection of personal data is important to us.

Perhaps the GDPR is better than nothing, but in its effects it seems to have made the Internet clunkier than before, and it’s nothing like perfect in any case. The only way to be sure that data is not misused is to not give it out in the first place. That doesn’t help in a world in which many of us are dealing with people via online communications whom we don’t really know - such as in this communication. We need to be able to order goods and services and pay for them, so some data needs to be sent. In some relationships forms of trust are built up, and there seem to be rewards in exchanging the data. Data exchange is not limited to financial data, and simply being online allows some organisations to gather vast amounts of data about us, or make inferences based on data gathered.

It’s really rather complex, but I wouldn’t assume that legal “protections” are always (ever) going to work, either to remedy problems afterwards, or to have a significant deterrent effect.

You appear to think that because there are potential penalties for data misuse that will stop it. It’s a start, but it’s not going to prevent all such misuse, just as having speed limits on roads and penalties for bad driving doesn’t actually prevent speeding or road accidents. A legal framework which is observed and enforced can make a difference, but is not a panacea. It may reduce problems amongst those who are willing to follow the rules, but may have little effect on those who are prepared to break or ignore them.

[ahinton]

Perhaps the GDPR is better than nothing, but in its effects it seems to have made the Internet clunkier than before, and it’s nothing like perfect in any case. The only way to be sure that data is not misused is to not give it out in the first place. That doesn’t help in a world in which many of us are dealing with people via online communications whom we don’t really know - such as in this communication. We need to be able to order goods and service and pay for them, so some data needs to be sent. In some relationships forms of trust are built up, and there seem to be rewards in exchanging the data. Data exchange is not limited to financial data, and simply being online allows some organisations to gather vast amounts of data about us, or make inferences based on data gathered.

It’s really rather complex, but I wouldn’t assume that legal “protections” are always (ever) going to work.

You appear to think that because there are potential penalties for data misuse that will stop it. It’s a start, but it’s not going to prevent all such misuse, just as having speed limits on roads and penalties for bad driving doesn’t actually prevent speeding or road accidents. A legal framework which is observed and enforced can make a difference, but is not a panacea. It may reduce problems amongst those who are willing to follow the rules, but may have little effect on those who are prepared to break or ignore them.

That's all very well but, when one gives or sends someone a cheque, one is giving one's bank details to the recipient.

[Dave2002]

That's all very well but, when one gives or sends someone a cheque, one is giving one's bank details to the recipient.

Indeed, but unless forged copies are made, which might be rather hard, there is only one transaction, and one can also be reasonably sure who has that information. You are of course right - in that a recipient could cash a cheque, but also post copies of it to all and sundry over the Internet, for subsequent misuse. Trust is still a very major part of such dealings, and most of us do have views on that. Such trust underpins our lives - so that we can be reasonably sure of receiving goods we pay for by online transactions, or that our medical details won’t be passed on to others, or that our information and actions won’t be used against us.

Are we not, on the whole, more likely to trust people we actually know, rather than a rather “abstract” faceless computer system? Perhaps not. We may be more likely to trust people we know, but sometimes we may be let down very badly.