CHEQUE PAYMENTS

That this House notes with concern that high street banks are planning to stop accepting cheques despite protest from consumer groups and businesses; further notes that nearly four million cheques are still being written each day and that many people still prefer to pay for goods and services in this way; is concerned that the Payments Council which represents the major banks voted in December 2009 to scrap the cheque as a method of payment; believes many people, particularly the elderly, would be inconvenienced as a result; calls on the Government to remind the banks that they exist to serve customers and not the other way round; and urges the banks to reconsider their proposal to abolish the cheque.