Small firms have been warned to take note of the decline in cheque usage and urged to consider other payment forms.
According to research by payment processing body BACS, 61% of the population revealed that they no longer using cheques to pay for regular monthly commitments.
The research follows announcements from larger companies such as Boots and Tesco that they will now be restricting the use and acceptance of cheques. According to BACS these larger companies were ‘responding to consumer spending patterns’.
BACS said that cheque usage by organisations has declined over the last ten years, and the number of business cheques written for regular trade payments fell 6% in the last two years.
There was a 6% decline in the number of cheques used for paying employee expenses over the same period. BACS is also predicting the same rate of decline for all businesses cheques every year until 2015.
“For some time now, our data has indicated that cheque usage is in steady decline by consumers and businesses alike,” said Michael Chambers, managing director of BACS.
“During 2006 some British retailers stopped accepting cheques and as some of the country’s largest corporates turn their backs on the cheque, small-to-medium businesses really ought to take note.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
