ASDA “Checking†Out From Accepting Personal Cheques From Monday 16th April!
In what is seen by many as another nail in the coffin of the cheque book, ASDA superstores will not be accepting personal cheques from Monday 16th April. While the move has not been widely publicised, it was expected by many after the company announced a trial of the no-cheques policy in a small number of stores earlier this year.
The company are openly displaying notices in their stores confirming the no-cheques policy, and while the official reason is to “assist with the speed of serviceâ€, many are questioning the real reasons. It is common knowledge that cheques are more expensive to process than other payment systems, and the funds are received up to 5 working days after presentation - impacting upon short term cash flow.
Due to the 5 day time lag between writing your cheque, the presentation and processing of the payment, it is possible to spend funds (via cheque) so long as you will receive sufficient funds into your account within 5 working days. Many industry observers believe that the cheque will become non-existent over the next 5 years with more and more retailers set to follow the lead of ASDA.
The only alternative to cheques is cash or “plasticâ€, although as fewer and fewer people carry cash (often for safety reasons), it seems that plastic is the way forward. There are some concerns from the Civil Liberties associations as “plastic†payment methods allows the authorities to monitor where you were at any time - “big brother†really will be watching!
As the cost savings from processing no cheques will flow straight back to the retailers, we should see a positive impact on their profit figures in the short term. Whether any of these savings will be passed to the consumer remains to be seen.
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