The end of the line for the cheque book?

[fiona@wireuk.org]

Am I alone in thinking this may be catastrophic for smalll businesses? Yes we should move with the times, yes we use cheques less and less and yes there are other more secure methods of payment but surely the more methods of payment there are the better it is for business - woudl be really interested to hear what WiRE members think

[stitching@thestripes.co.uk]

I suspect that by the time the cheque book reaches the end of its life, I will have retired. However, this may not be the case.

As my business is garment alterations and repairs, my invoices are usually between £5 and £15. Majority of my customers pay cash but there are those whose like to pay by cheque and I am happy to accept. I await with interest what systems will be used to settle at the till so to speak when cash isn't available and 'the plastic' is not possible. Some of my elderly customers don't have mobile phones (a possible solution)either so that could create a problem too.

Arranging a bank transfer just to pay to have a zip replaced or hems taken up seems a bit extreme at the moment. Paying cheques into the bank is, for me, at the moment ,fine as I have a bank in my village. I do have to remember to pay them it. So there will be benefits.

It could be that micro businesses will have to become cash only!

Carol

[cleo@celticquest.co.uk]

As a new business i found that after the first month of trading we were losing out to other organisations becuase we didn't offer credit/debit card payment facilities.
As soon as we set up said payment facility we stopped receiving cheque payments (customers choice).
It has its good and bad points.
The down side to cheques was that they take 5 working days (or more) to clear. There was also little to no security with cheques that were given to us 5 days either side of a booked event. Meaning if the cheque bounced (which happened twice) we were stuck as the customer had already had their experience with us. On both occassions it was easier to let it go than try to chase them
Credit/debit card payment facility. We use a virtual terminal online so no hiring fees for equipment. The other bonus is that the monies paid into said system go into our bank account and are accessible within just 3 days.
The down side is the monthly charge for said service. We pay £21 per month and a very small charge on top of that per transaction.
Don't make the BARCLAYS mistake we did. They charge 1% ontop of everything else for every transaction!
We soon got out of there and went with Card Save.
Lastly, phew i didn't intend to rant on quite so much!
Living in a rural area is a pain in the backside when it comes to physically banking cheques.

[sales@gdhleatherwork.co.uk]

I hope it's not the end of the line for the cheque book! Almost all of my customers prefer to pay by cheque and as I offer a made to order service, it's not a problem having to wait for cheques to 'clear', as orders are not sent for number of weeks anyway. I still haven't organised a credit card payment method because I really haven't found a need. Incidently, I still have requests to make cheque-book covers!

Gaynor

[suziallen@btinternet.com]

Cleo, I'm sure if you were member of FSB it would save you a tremendous amount on terminal fees.

Cheques - well, we live in a village and it's really half a day out from work to visit the bank and pay in. Cards are a lot easier here. Many stores no longer accept cheques - and I believe they are going to become obsolete in the not too distant future?