The high street health and beauty retailer Boots is the latest retailer to ban cheques as a form of payment.
The new rule, which will be implemented in 46 Boots stores in the south of England, is part in an industry wide move to kill off the cheque.
The pilot ban will start in Surrey and Sussex on September 26. If the trial is deemed successful, it will be extended to the rest of the company’s 1,500 outlets by Christmas.
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Boots’ decision follows a similar ban by Shell last year. Asda and Tesco have also introduced restrictions on cheques.
Boots says that cheques increase queue times and make the retailer more vulnerable to fraud.
Since the introduction of Chip and Pin for debit and credit cards earlier this year, the use of cheques at Boots outlets has plummeted. Boots says cheques now account for only two purchases in every 1,000, and that usage has fallen by a third in a year.
Analysts expect cheques to be an entirely redundant form of payment within five years – nearly four centuries after they first appeared.
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The Boots announcement has been met with some caution. Advisors at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) say elderly people will suffer most from the changes as the over 65s tend to use cheques most.
Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation at ACCA says: “Banning cheques will have serious repercussions on certain groups within society, particularly the elderly who are used to this method of payment. Changes of this nature will inevitably make them feel more vulnerable.”
He added: “With more people living by credit card, many are finding it far easier to drift into debt – the consequences are, of course, far from healthy”.
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