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Campaigners welcome MPs report on future of cheques
August 24, 2011
MPs have slammed the Payments Council's attempt to abolish cheques without considering the needs of ordinary citizens or the costs and benefits of such a move.
The Treasury Select Committee has published a damning report which confirms the future of cheques and calls for the Payments Council to be brought into the regulatory system.
MPs are concerned by the council's power to decide the future of cheques and have called for cheque users to be given proper protection.
Committee chairman Andrew Tyrie said that the Payments Council's decision to abolish cheques in 2018 "was taken without an assessment of the costs and benefits and without providing any indication of what alternatives to cheques would be put in place".
He observed that many bank customers had been given the impression that the abolition of cheques was a foregone conclusion.
"This type of behaviour is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue," Mr Tyrie said.
Dr Ros Altmann, director-general of Saga, described the report as a "damning indictment" of banks' behaviour.
She pointed out that many people still rely on cheques, including those who are housebound, disabled or afraid to keep large amounts of cash, as well as grandparents who send cheques as gifts to their grandchildren.
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