Cheques blanked?
John Grain | 26 June 2007 | Blogs
A short article caught my eye in the Times last Friday. Tucked away at the bottom of one of the inside pages, was a piece about how the supermarket chain Morrisons and Transport for London are both to stop accepting cheques from customers next month. This follows on the heels of other major retailers such as Boots, W H Smith, Asda, Argos, Next, and many others who have already implemented such a measure.
Apparently, extra processing time and greater fraud risk has driven these decisions, together with the fact that cheques now account for less than ten per cent of non-cash transactions (down from fifty per cent in 1990).
Anyone who has read Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘The Tipping Point’ would probably agree that the cheque clearly appears to be on its last legs, if not yet in its final death throes. And don’t be too upset – it has had a good innings as the first one was written way back in 1659.
So I wonder how many organisations are actively planning for its final demise? It may take a good while yet, and there might not be any need for concern, but the implications for direct mail in the long-term could be very significant.
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Always look for a silver lining though – I suppose it could mean the death knell for those spectacularly unimaginative ‘giant cheque’ presentations for the local paper.
About John Grain
Since 2004, John Grain Associates (JGA) have worked with hundreds of clients to help them raise more money. Specialists in individual giving and supporter care, they are passionate advocates of ethical and transparent relationship fundraising. Over the past 15 years JGA have worked on developing and implementing strategies, generating imaginative and engaging creative content, providing insightful research, offered interim support and mentoring, and delivering a range of bespoke supporter care training programmes.