Cheques: does anybody still use them?

[ahinton]

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.

Fair points, but not all cheques are sent to people whom their issuers know personally. Moreover, if we all used them for all financial transactions I shudder to imagine how many trees would be required for their manufacture!

[gurnemanz]

The lady who is Hon Treasurer of our local Choral Soc of which I am Chairman has done a brilliant job for nearly 40 years and if approached (cautiously) on the subject refuses to abandon cheques in favour of any new-fangled method of collecting members' subs. Greatly valuing her contribution and with no one else obviously pushing themselves forward to take the job on, we are happy to go along with her wishes.

[MrGongGong]

Does the RAH still pay by cheque from an Irish bank ?

[Dave2002]

Fair points, but not all cheques are sent to people whom their issuers know personally. Moreover, if we all used them for all financial transactions I shudder to imagine how many trees would be required for their manufacture!

Maybe it's a confidence thing - to build trust. I can just about remember making my first Amazon purchase, or doing a transaction on ebay. I think that was in the last century, or about the turn of it. I was very cautious. I know people who still don't use online banking. I shudder to think how many wasted hours I used to spend in banks.

One of my first ebay purchases was from the USA, and the seller really didn't want to send me bank details. We figured a way eventually, and of course trust worked both ways. I did receive the article - exactly what I wanted, but there was the possibility of a default on either side.

I'm just about getting used to bank transfers. It looks as though standards of service are different for different banks.

One possible problem is for small organisations which may receive a number of modest payments from a modest sized (say 100-1000) people e.g. annual subscriptions, and trying to match up people and amounts can present problems. The problems might still exist with cheques, but it's usually obvious that there might be a problem. It's amazing how convoluted this can get - with people paying the wrong amounts, or paying for other people, or paying for multiple items so that it's hard to figure out who has paid for what. Some banks don't provide enough information (for example on statements) to identify each transaction well enough, and the standard BACs data field isn't really big enough for much detail - 18 chars I think.

Msg 242 indicates a difficulty for small organisations - I can identify with that.

[LezLee]

I've written 3 cheques in the past 6 weeks - one to the gardener, one to my sister and one to the handyman. None of them uses online banking or PayPal so it's the only way. My bank (Lloyds') closed all its branches in Scotland a few years ago and the local Bank of Scotland, which handled some transactions for them has also closed. There's only the Post Office now but I'm not sure how much they do.

[cloughie]

The lady who is Hon Treasurer of our local Choral Soc of which I am Chairman has done a brilliant job for nearly 40 years and if approached (cautiously) on the subject refuses to abandon cheques in favour of any new-fangled method of collecting members' subs. Greatly valuing her contribution and with no one else obviously pushing themselves forward to take the job on, we are happy to go along with her wishes.

I think choirs up and down the land rely heavily on use of cheques!

[DracoM]

Basically - or so it would seem from this discussion - the banks are saying 'up yours' to rank and file customers.
As someone living in a town without banks, I can conform that the inconvenience and distress are daily evident.

[vinteuil]

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... I last wrote a cheque five years ago. I think it's the same for my wife - tho' she gets a cheque once a year from one of her employers as a birthday gift. I think I visit an actual branch about once a year. I have been happy with the on-line and other services of Lloyds.


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[Cockney Sparrow]

.......One possible problem is for small organisations which may receive a number of modest payments from a modest sized (say 100-1000) people e.g. annual subscriptions, and trying to match up people and amounts can present problems. The problems might still exist with cheques, but it's usually obvious that there might be a problem. It's amazing how convoluted this can get - with people paying the wrong amounts, or paying for other people, or paying for multiple items so that it's hard to figure out who has paid for what......

I'm no expert user of Paypal. But transactions under £100 don't have the protections given by using credit cards, and there is (I understand) some possibility of redress under their system - so I use it.
There were messages (or emails) from them recently referring to a new facility for collating payments for groups. One small group I belong to,, with a yearly sub of abour £22, with international members, finds paypal a practical means of receiving payments. (Who wants to go to corner shops to receive western union transfers?).
Paying by bank transfer for UK transactions is now pretty standard for me - most recently for two vases we bought from an importer with a pretty modest business (a sideline) in that area of selling . (For anything much over, say, £200 I firstly make a £1 transfer and get confirmation it was received).

[LezLee]

I use one credit card for all online payments, including PayPal. It has a low credit limit so no-one could take thousands of pounds! Not that I've got many thousands of pounds anyway!

[ahinton]

I'm no expert user of Paypal. But transactions under £100 don't have the protections given by using credit cards, and there is (I understand) some possibility of redress under their system - so I use it.
There were messages (or emails) from them recently referring to a new facility for collating payments for groups. One small group I belong to,, with a yearly sub of abour £22, with international members, finds paypal a practical means of receiving payments. (Who wants to go to corner shops to receive western union transfers?).
Paying by bank transfer for UK transactions is now pretty standard for me - most recently for two vases we bought from an importer with a pretty modest business (a sideline) in that area of selling . (For anything much over, say, £200 I firstly make a £1 transfer and get confirmation it was received).

I only ever use PayPal to receive and I use one credit card for almost all purchases (i.e. other than those very few for which credit card use is not possible).

[DracoM]

So the banks' assumption seems to be that unless you own and use a mobile phone for everything, you're not really a full human being?

[Pulcinella]

So the banks' assumption seems to be that unless you own and use a mobile phone for everything, you're not really a full human being?

I think you'll find that, like much else that's going on at present, it's all done for their own convenience under the guise of some feeble excuse or other, and with scant (if any) regard for customer convenience!

[LMcD]

So the banks' assumption seems to be that unless you own and use a mobile phone for everything, you're not really a full human being?

Correct!

[vinteuil]

So the banks' assumption seems to be that unless you own and use a mobile phone for everything, you're not really a full human being?

... my cheapo pay-as-you-go mobile phone is not clever enough to do bank-related things.

I do bank transfers etc on-line from a computer at home, and get cash when needed from ATMs. Perhaps my banking needs are less complex than others' here.

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