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28/12/2009 -
In a bold sign of the growing shift to electronic payment processing worldwide, the UK Payments Council has announced that it is phasing out the existence of cheques entirely, with an end date of October 31, 2018.The council noted that "cheque use is in long-term, terminal decline," and has decided to remove them entirely from the company's payment processing system and promote other alternatives.
In the UK, cheque use has been in decline since 1990, falling more than 40 percent in the past five years alone, the council reported.
"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," said Paul Smee, chief executive of the payments council.
Though the Canadian government has not yet taken such a bold stance, studies have shown that paper-based payments are giving way to electronic payments - such as debit, credit and prepaid cards - in Canada and in other Western countries, reinforcing how important it is that businesses have a variety of electronic payment processing capabilities included in their merchant services.
