Cheque Books.

We still have a cheque book as I often send the children cheques as gifts. When we switched bank two years ago we asked for a new joint account cheque book. When it arrived it had my husband’s name only in it. When I queried this they told me I’d have to reapply for one in my own name. I did not bother but I can’t help feeling like a 1940’s housewife each time I need to send a cheque as I have to rely on my husband putting his signature on it each time.

Yes I do. I don't use it much now but it always goes to my dentist with me. They are always claiming their card machine has broken down.

My ladies groups also use cheques to pay the speakers who come. My hairdresser does not accept any form of card for payment cash or cheque only. My church still accepts cheques for donations although it does have a card machine.

I still use cheques, monthly to pay for my embroidery group courses, annually for subs to the WI, stitch group and TG. Plus occasional other items

Yes I still use cheques but not very often. I have just written one to pay my credit card bill. You should be able to order a new cheque book at the cash machine, other services or write or phone the bank up.

If I have a cheque to pay in, I either send the cheque to the bank using a paying in slip or I can into the bank. I have 2 accounts with different banks.

I wrote a cheque to my Great Niece for her 21st Birthday recently, and reading this thread made me think to check and see if she had paid it in - quite surprised to see she had done so quickly! But hasn't thanked me for it........no matter I stop presents at 21 anyway!

To those who don't live near a bank you can post cheques to your branch with a letter detailing the account it should be paid into. Have done this in the past

People are naturally cautious about who they give their bank details to. How do those who advocate using cheque books feel about giving everyone these details on every cheque they write?

I have just received the usual bunch of Christmas raffle tickets. They all ask for payment by cheque. You can pay by debit card, but I don't like giving my card details.

Have only written one cheque in the last year to a dog trainer. Still have lots left in my cheque book

Oldgoat: DH and I are trustees of a Trust that requires 2 signatures for everything, like you and the WI, and won’t allow online banking for this reason. Nor will they allow telephone banking, both a real nuisance, especially if they have made a mistake, as they not infrequently have done. They are doing their best to phase out Trust accounts, I suspect there is little profit in them, goodness knows what we will do then. They won’t issue bank cards, nor telephone passwords for Trusts, though their operators missed the memo and keep asking for one.
As our local bank has shut down, and we infrequently go to the nearest branch which is quite a long distance away, I end up paying bills out of my own account, and the Trust has to reimburse me, can’t think that is very good practice, though I keep careful records in case I am ever accused of embezzlement.
Mamacaz, I think you will find that many of the main banks allow you to photograph cheques to pay them in now, once one did it the rest seemed to follow suit. Though it is not foolproof; occasionally the system will “take against” a cheque and the transaction doesn’t go through

I have been told by several people that banks charge as much for handling cheques as they do for credit card transactions

Just had a look at my cheque book - last used in 2015.

Thanks Sueki44 ?

My FIL gives us cheques as presents. The last few years they haven’t got paid in as our local town has closed all its banks so it’s a special trip to another town. Thankfully my DH now has POA and has set up online banking for him and manages all his finances. We now just take the cheques, shred them and do a bank transfer. That way everyone is happy.

I can’t remember the last time I wrote a cheque, I pay my cleaner in cash and all the trades people I use do online payments including the window cleaner.

I only use cheques these days for charity donations. The Christmas ones have just started coming and I find it easy to keep them all in one drawer and write the cheques all on the same day. It's one of my Christmas traditions which I used to do with my mother. She's gone now but I like to think she knows I'm still doing it.

Sorry, I should have said that the cheque is made payable to Mum….but the physical cheque goes in the card addressed to the young person.

I rarely use my chequebook, but we use it for payments where we need to send a cheque with a payment form in order to get a receipt.
Some tradesķmen now ask for payments via apps or their own payment machines when they have finished a job, but I don't like doing this for people I don't know, who knows what info they can save for later fraudulent use?
Cheques are also useful for sending cash gifts at Christmas, though I must admit that I often risk sending cash now.

GrannyGear

I agree with MamaCaz. There's a poetry magazine I subscribe to where the editor wants payment by cheque. Won't use email either.
I don't mind sending a cheque but receiving one is a real pain. The local branch of our bank has shut and I don't want to travel ten miles to the next one just to cash a cheque for a small amount. I'm told the post office will cash cheques -is this correct?

If you have a banking app on your phone you can send a photo of the cheque - saves travelling 10 miles!

Yes I still use cheques, but no longer as much. I pay workmen doing jobs at my home with cheques and Credit Card bills. I would hate not to have them available.

Sueki44

I pay the window cleaner by cheque, so I can keep track of when he comes. I also send cheques to young family members who don’t have bank accounts. I’d hate to see them phased out.

How does someone with no bank account cash a cheque?

All you need for paypal is their email address, you don't need to know any bank details

I pay the window cleaner by cheque, so I can keep track of when he comes. I also send cheques to young family members who don’t have bank accounts. I’d hate to see them phased out.

Lilylaundry

MamaCaz. That was an unnecessary put down for my husband and me. We are amongst the ‘rather mature’ small business owners but, contrary to your nasty statement about us not embracing new technology, we have a web site, which we update regularly. We accept cash, cheques, bank transfers, PayPal transfers etc., but what we don’t have is a card machine since most of our customers prefer cash, cheque or bank transfer. Perhaps it would be wise of you to think before being nasty in future. People who are ‘rather mature’ are neither idiots or backwards looking.

I am sorry you have taken my comment personally, but I think you reaction to it is over the top.

I gave our own experience of when we - OH and I - most commonly need to write cheques, and that experience is that, as I wrote, "it is most frequently to small, longstanding businesses run by rather mature people who haven't embraced technology, continuing to accept only cash or cheques".

That is our personal experience, so what is wrong in my saying that?

Nowhere did I say, or imply, that you are fall into that cateegory. - you clearly do not, since you accept a wide range of payment methods, so how exactly am I meant to have been nasty to you?

Nor did I say that all, or even a lot of people who are elderly are idiots or backward looking.
I didn't suggest that any group of people are idiots, and I don't think it either.

I stand by what I said, which was that some elderly people in business have not embraced technology, so yes, those particular people are, perhaps not backwards-looking, to use your words, but simply not moving forwards at the same pace as other businesses.

I think your attack on me, and saying I am nasty, is far nastier than anything I wrote!

I live in "Firstport" retirement housing. If I hire the guest room for a friend, or at another site for myself they insist on payment by cheque. Even the Post Office can accept online payments now, although they still charge a "cheque handling" fee.