Do you still use cheques as payment?

Cheques books have been used in the UK for over 350 years but they are now on the decline.

In the UK 558 million cheques were issued in 2015 dramatically down from the four billion issued back in 1990. In Holland cheques are not used at all while in Switzerland, Germany and Belgium they are rarely used nowadays.

Reasons for their decline are due to payments over the internet, the use of direct debit and debit/credit cards. Now the UKs largest producer of cheques, IPSL, has said that sadly 600 out of 1,300 of its workforce will have to go.

Many banks had planned to abolish cheques as a form of payment by 2018 but in 2011 there was an outcry among customers and their use was extended. While only 5% of youngsters aged between 18-24 years ever use cheques, over 65% of those aged over 65 do still use them.

Do you still use cheques or do you find it easier to use other methods of payment? Do you think our society will still be using cheques in 10 years time? Will the use of credit/debit cards and payment over the internet supersede them totally?