Abolition of cheques

If cheques are withdrawn without the introduction of a comparable alternative, community sports clubs would be put under unnecessary stress.

Cheques are widely used in the sport and recreation sector as a secure, flexible and convenient alternative to cash, cards or online banking.

A parent is happier to give their child a cheque to take with them to their club because of the added security.

It is also easier for a climbing club, for example, to collect cheques for membership because they are likely to meet at the base of a cliff away from computers, electricity connections and mobile telephone signals.

Background

• the Payments Council had set 2018 as the date to withdraw cheques from use
• a wide-ranging consultation took place with key stakeholders
• the Alliance is working with the Payments Council to identify where cheques are used in the sector, barriers to migration and what features any alternative solution needs to have.

Key barriers to overcome before migrating cheques to alternative

• free banking is prevalent amongst smaller organisations (providing reserves are held with the bank) – the majority of clubs are not for profit
• dual authorisation requirement is easy with cheques
• many organisations rely on volunteers who may not have necessary IT skills
• difficult to change behaviour even if club or governing body makes effort to change
• alternatives take time to migrate
• broadband access and cost – many small governing bodies and rural clubs do not have on-site internet access.

Latest

• after pressure from volunteer groups and charities, the Payments Council announced a change of policy in the summer of 2011. This ensured that cheques will continue for as long as customers need them and the target for possible closure of cheque clearing in 2018 was cancelled
• the Alliance will continue to interact with the Payments Council to ensure any proposed changes will not have a detrimental effect on sport and recreation.

Download brief (pdf)