# UK bans paper checks as of 2018? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 15, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559 "2010-03-15T17:22:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/1 "2010-03-15T17:22:06Z")
I read in my credit union newsletter the UK will ban checks by 2018 - is this true? And if so is this for everyone including businesses and government? Or just individuals? ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/2 "2010-03-15T17:28:33Z")
Yes, it is true, and yes, it will apply across the board: [http://www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/media\_centre/press\_releases\_new/-/page/855/](http://www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/media_centre/press_releases_new/-/page/855/) ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/3 "2010-03-15T17:33:57Z")
Haven’t heard of any US plans in that direction. I’m not sure it would go over well here. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/4 "2010-03-15T17:35:05Z")
Is this a first step to abandoning all _cash_ transactions? After all, quoting from the linked article, “There are many more efficient ways of making payments than by paper in the 21st century, and the time is ripe for the economy as a whole to reap the benefits of its replacement.” ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/5 "2010-03-15T17:40:14Z")
From [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheque) > [@](#): > > In fact, the UK Payments Council announced in December 2009 that cheques would be phased out by October 2018, but only if adequate alternatives are developed. They will perform annual checks on the progress of other payments systems and a final review of the decision will be held in 2016. I’m reading this not so much that they will be banned, but just the end of where businesses will readily accept them. You would still be able to use them to pay the music teacher, baby sitter, gardener, or others that don’t have ready access to electronic fund transfers. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/6 "2010-03-15T17:41:36Z")
I guess you will just have to pay friends, babysitters, etc in cash. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/7 "2010-03-15T17:44:54Z")
I don’t like paying with check nowadays, so I hardly ever use them. But sometimes they are the best way. As the linked article says: “Although cheque use has been in decline since 1990, and has fallen by 40% over the last five years, there are still plenty of situations where cheques are used extensively. These include payments between individuals, and payments to sole traders, small businesses, clubs, charities and schools.” Those are indeed among the few situations where I tend to use checks nowadays. If they could find a good solution that works in cases like these, they probably could get rid of checks altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/8 "2010-03-15T17:48:47Z")
By 2018 you will probably be able to pay most people via online bill pay , assuming they have a bank account. They just need to make sure the account number you get is only for deposits. ---
**Author:** ![yastobaal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/258eb7/32.png) [@yastobaal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yastobaal)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/9 "2010-03-15T17:48:56Z")
To be honest though, most businesses will not accept personal cheques anymore. The retail (food) place I work for said that they would accept cheques as long as they could put them in the bank. Currently we don’t allow people to use them so either banks stopped it for us or someone higher in the management chain thought there was too much fraud happening. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/10 "2010-03-15T17:51:45Z")
Don’t worry, eventually you’ll be able to swipe your arm on theirs and deposit funds directly. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![pericynthion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/85e7bf/32.png) [@pericynthion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pericynthion)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/11 "2010-03-16T03:55:08Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > By 2018 you will probably be able to pay most people via online bill pay , assuming they have a bank account. They just need to make sure the account number you get is only for deposits. That is the case in the UK already. Every high street bank has online banking that makes it trivial to send money to anybody else with a bank account. The payments usually clear in 2 hours. And in the UK, knowing somebody’s bank account number and sort code only allows you to make deposits into that account, not withdrawls from it. ---
**Author:** ![SandyHook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@SandyHook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandyHook)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/12 "2010-03-16T04:28:02Z")
I’m in favor of the idea. I also don’t see why the government doesn’t do away with checks. You don’t have a bank account for them to put it in they can hold it until you get one. In the past 4-5 years I haven’t written more than 3-4 per year. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/13 "2010-03-16T04:45:25Z")
I find this very hard to believe. Is absolutely everyone going to be able to accept payments electronically from anywhere in the world by then? What about receipts and confirmation? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/14 "2010-03-16T05:52:17Z")
I prefer to do my bill payments by check. I never use them for purchases. ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/15 "2010-03-16T06:02:23Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Don’t worry, eventually you’ll be able to swipe your arm on theirs and deposit funds directly. > > 😛 Where do I sign up? ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/16 "2010-03-16T06:30:31Z")
> [@pericynthion](#): > > And in the UK, knowing somebody’s bank account number and sort code only allows you to make deposits into that account, not withdrawls from it. As Jeremy Clarkson found out in 2008, that’s not strictly true. I’m not sure whether that particular loophole has been closed. > **[BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Clarkson stung after bank prank](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7174760.stm)** > > TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has lost money after publishing his bank details in his newspaper column. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/17 "2010-03-16T07:31:07Z")
> [@KarlGauss](#): > > Is this a first step to abandoning all _cash_ transactions? After all, quoting from the linked article, “There are many more efficient ways of making payments than by paper in the 21st century, and the time is ripe for the economy as a whole to reap the benefits of its replacement.” Absolutely. When was the last time you saw a Starfleet Officer pay for something in _cash_? Think long-term… think big picture. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/18 "2010-03-16T10:57:36Z")
What about recipients who do not have a bank account? I guess you’d have to pay them in cash. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/19 "2010-03-16T11:20:47Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > From [Wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheque)I’m reading this not so much that they will be banned, but just the end of where businesses will readily accept them. > You would still be able to use them to pay the music teacher, baby sitter, gardener, or others that don’t have ready access to electronic fund transfers. But anybody who has a bank account has access to e-transfer, and if they can’t get a bank account they probably want cash anyway. I can count on the fingers of one hand the cheques I’ve seen outside the US and have digits left. The only country where I’ve had problems with e-transfers is the US (Citibank claiming that processing an e-payment would take 30 days as they didn’t know the bank sending it - which was Citibank Spain; bank workers being unfamiliar with the concept of [IBAN](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Bank_Account_Number)); I’ve sent or received them from/to Costa Rica, Mexico, Spain, the US, Switzerland, the UK, Ireland, Italy and France. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2010, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559/20 "2010-03-16T11:28:24Z")
More and more companies and individuals seem to be using PayPal to transfer money or to pay for goods. It’s certainly cheaper than using a bank transfer when sending funds abroad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-bans-paper-checks-as-of-2018/532559.md?page=2)