Britain to phase out paper checks by 2018
The UK Payments Council has decided to do away with paper checks by October 2018 in favor of newer electronic payment methods like smart cards and NFC, according to BBC News.
The decision is based on the sharp decline in check use in the last twenty years, coupled with relatively high cost of processing a check (£1 per check). Over the last five years alone, checking has dropped 40% in the UK, with customers opting for online banking and plastic.
According to Paul Smee, chief executive of the Payments Council, contactless technology and other electronic forms of payment are far more efficient and cheaper than paper, and by 2018 there should be “no scenario” in which checks are appropriate.
The council will monitor the progress of electronic payment over the course of the next few years and by 2016 will have made a final decision to wipe out the UK’s checking infrastructure.
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