The end of the cheque.

Reading the paper last night a article heralded the end of the cheque guarantee card in July 2011. It asked just how many people used this service, and in fact how many younger people actually knew it was there. 88 million transactions a year are guaranteed by the scheme, but they estimate that 15% of those are actually invalid as the cheque must be physically handed over and in those cases aren't. Hebden Royd Town Council doesn't have a cheque guarantee card, just the cheques but will have to make arrangements before 2019 when cheques are planned to be withdrawn. It's not because Hebden Royd Town Council doesn't want to move with the times that we only have a cheque book it's because of the law and the financial regulations which we work within. Tonight, the Strategy & Review Committee will be looking at altering those regulations to allow us to make payments by card and also to ensure staff salaries are paid efficiently and authorised appropriately to protect all while keeping the process transparent.