Yes, according to new research published today by Creditsafe.
They say that 33% of British firms are planning to stop using cheques to pay other businesses within the next 12 months, and that 11% are planning to stop accepting cheques altogether!
Instead, they plan to rely on direct bank transfers (such as BACS) and debit and credit card payments. Reasons given were that these were more traceable, more efficient and reduced the need for manual processing.
They estimate that the savings to the British SME sector of not handling cheques could be as much as £788 million. This would be through less time being spent on processing cheques and less time spent in accounting and bookkeeping.
Whilst I agree wholeheartedly that electronic means of payment are more efficient, less time consuming and much better as far as an audit trail is concerned, I can’t see SMEs refusing to accept cheques at all in the near future. Whilst this might be an option for large utility firms, in the current economic climate, it would be madness for an SME to refuse to accept a customer’s cheque. There are also the charges of operating merchant accounts to be taken into account.
What do you think?
Gary Cousins
Business Solicitor
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