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Yes, says Rob Skinner, Head of public relations at PayPal UK
The cheque's in the past. For such a humble creation, the common cheque has a colourful history. In the 1930s, humourist AP Herbert created the urban myth that a man called Albert Haddock won a landmark court case to force the collector of taxes to accept a cheque written on a cow.
The story, one of Herbert's Misleading Cases, was pure fiction, but reflected the fact that a cheque was simply an instruction to a bank to pay someone a sum of money. Long ago, people really did write cheques on whatever scraps of paper they had to hand.
Growing up in Cardiff, I learned that the world's first £1m cheque was supposedly written in the city's coal exchange. A century ago, the cheque underpinned global trade.
On a more modest scale, I regarded writing my own first cheque as a rite of passage on turning 18. (I saved my best handwriting for cheques, birthday cards and exam essays!) We all struggled to remember to write the right year on the date line each January.
But times change. Like so many, I've long since relegated my chequebook to the back of a drawer, and have to take care to use the right one on those rare days when someone insists on this traditional means of payment. It's hard to imagine a TV quiz show today offering a silver chequebook and pen as a prize, as the BBC's Blankety Blank did 30 years ago!
Today, we prefer to pay by credit or debit card on the high street, and to use online payment services when shopping on the internet. PayPal, the company I work for, was created 10 years ago to enable people to send money to each other electronically almost instantly without sharing their sensitive financial details. It also helps people buy and sell things on eBay without the hassle of waiting for cheques to clear.
The hallowed phrase "the cheque's in the post" reflects the uncertainty involved in such a leisurely method of payment. In 2009, the idea of paying with a piece of paper that then embarks on a slow journey through "clearing" seems quaint, if not bizarre. Improvements to the cheque clearing process in late 2007 - the "two-four-six" changes, which set a maximum time limit of two, four and six working days for each of the stages after paying in a cheque to a current account - were welcome in providing greater clarity to consumers, but arguably just highlighted the contrast with faster, electronic ways of paying.
The cheque is also at a disadvantage in an era when we're travelling abroad more than ever and increasingly buying things from overseas websites. These sites obviously don't welcome payment by a cheque from a British bank account. And, although small businesses are often portrayed as one of the final groups to champion the cheque, we're finding more and more of them are jumping at the chance to take online payments.
In recent years, many big British retailers such as Tesco and Marks & Spencer have stopped taking cheques, which will surely hasten their demise.
It may not happen overnight, and we should respect people's personal choice. But in time the cheque will join the shilling, the farthing and the halfpenny in the banking hall of nostalgia.
No, says John Bryant, Director of global industries at Unisys financial consultancy
The earliest recorded cheque in the UK was dated 16 February 1659 - which means we have just passed its 350th anniversary.
In my eyes, this was an important milestone. Many think the cheque is on its way out, but in 2007 there were still more than 4.4m personal and business cheques issued every day. Although there has been a decline from a peak of 11m in 1990, this is still a staggering number - especially when you consider the number of alternative payment methods that now exist.
Yes, you could argue that fewer retailers now offer the option of writing a cheque as a form of payment. Tesco is the latest company to stop accepting cheques, following other major retailers such as Asda, Boots, Sainsbury's and WH Smith. While Tesco claimed that the move was intended to speed sales at the checkout and help reduce fraud, it is likely that there was an element of cost cutting involved.
In today's fast-paced world, consumers and businesses alike are searching for ways to save time and money. For many, electronic payments are a more attractive option. Indeed, the growth of electronic point-of-sale systems and online banking has been very impressive. But at what cost?
Electronic payment may be quick and simple, but there clearly remains a sizeable proportion of the population that prefers to use cheques - mainly because they believe them to be more secure. The media is awash with incidents of identity theft and stories that online fraud is growing. Many of us have fallen victim to electronic identity fraud at some point; those who haven't probably know someone who has. In fact, a recent Security Index survey carried out by Unisys showed that 63% of British adults are concerned about misuse of their credit or debit card information. So the tangible process of writing a cheque is, for many people, a more reassuring way of paying as it provides a higher level of control and assurance.
While the number of cheques being written is falling, there are many people who prefer to use cheques either some or all of the time. At the end of the day, it comes down to consumer choice - and many people consider it their right to choose how they pay.
I have no doubt that there would be uproar if the banks threatened to put an end to cheques altogether. In fact, some believe that we may even see a rise in the use of cheques as consumers and businesses opt for a slower form of payment that can improve their cash flow and generate as much interest on their balances as possible.
After the turmoil that we have seen in the financial sector, banks and building societies may perceive the cost of processing cheques as an unnecessary expense, considering the availability of alternative options. The cost of processing each cheque could even rise if the quantity being written continues to fall. However, the banks are already reducing the associated costs by sharing a centralised cheque-clearing operation , which currently processes around 80% of cheques written in the UK.
As long as members of the public continue to see cheques as part of the payment landscape and cheques can be processed efficiently, the chequebook's survival is assured.
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