Cheque volumes drop dramatically
(3 May 2013 – Australia) The cheque could be obsolete within just five years, as The Australian Payments and Clearing Association (APCA)'s Milestones Report released this week showed cheque use plummeted by 66 percent in the 10 years to December.
The report said it was only a matter of time before cheques would be wiped out completely as use continued a downward trend.
''Based on the current rate of decline and assuming no plateau in cheque use, it could be predicted that cheques will no longer be used in Australia in 2018,'' the report stated.
APCA's report found between December 2011 and December 2012 the total number of cheques written fell by 12.5 percent from 256 million to 224 million per year.
APCA Chief Executive Chris Hamilton said the dramatic shift away from cheque use forced its future to be seriously questioned.
''There's a lot of nostalgia, there's lot of history associated with cheques… but they really are quite expensive as a payment medium,'' he said.
''As people find good electronic alternatives and as they live more of their lives online and electronically, the cheque is just less useful.
''This is a product that's gradually phasing itself out, our biggest concern in all of that is there are still some people including older Australians or for historical reasons those people that are still very attached to their cheques.''
The report said cheque volumes had fallen across the world with data compiled from 19 developed countries including Australia and found volumes fell from 34 billion in 2010 to 31.6 billion in 2011.
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