Shops to stop cheque sales

Cheques will not be accepted in shops from 30 June 2011, it was announced today.

The 40-year-old cheque guarantee card scheme ends then and re-tailers will refuse payments.

Cheques will be usable when a back-up card is not needed and banks will still provide them on request.

Guaranteed cheque use has fallen 70 per cent in five years. Of 1.4  billion cheques written last year, seven per cent were guaranteed.