# The Cost of Using a cheque to make a payment



## marksa (14 Jul 2011)

I just got a new cheque book sent out to me and its got 25 cheques in it. My account gets debited €12.50 in stamp duty for the privelege. So each cheque costs 50cent each. Add to that the cost of e.g. postage and envelope it costs over a euro to send a cheque in the post. On the other hand I can send an electronic transfer for free using my eBanking.

At what level of stamp duty do people think users would be dis-incentivised from using cheques? e.g. stamp duty of €1 per cheque or €2 per cheque? 

Or is there something else that could be done to get the equivalent of the plastic bag levy reduction in use of plastic bags.

Personally I hate cheques - the most inefficient form of payment known to man - prone to fraud, kiting, bouncing, undue payment delay etc etc, yet Ireland still uses vast amounts of them - especially the various parts of the Government which accounts for about a third of all cheques issued in the country.


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## theresa1 (14 Jul 2011)

€5 each cheque.


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## TarfHead (15 Jul 2011)

marksa said:


> On the other hand I can send an electronic transfer for free using my eBanking.


 
If everyone you ever need to make a payment to can be paid using eBanking, why do you need a cheque ?

For those who you cannot pay by eBanking and would prefer not to pay by cheque, if is feasible or safe to have large quantities of cash on hand, especially when most ATM cards have a daily withdrawal limit in effect.

Having a disincentive (e.g. stamp duty) for cheques is fine, so long as it is complemented by an alternative to cash. You can't just take them away cos you think they're outdated. That was Bertie's rationale for electronic voting .


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## kimmage (15 Jul 2011)

While I don't think cheques are they most efficient way to pay I do think we need to keep them.  We also need to keep the GSD manageable.

The UK Payments Council recently changed plans to abolish cheques by 2018.  This was because they found a lot of elderly people relied on the payment method.  It can also be said for many people who are not able to use eBanking.

I think there should be no stamp duty on cheques.  The UK do not charge.  They manage without fleecing tax payers for the privilege of making a payment with their own money, which I am sure has been through the various tax systems, before it reached their accounts.

Ireland charge 30 for a credit card, again one of the countries to do this.  There is no incentive to use plastic.

They should abolish the stamp duty.

Fraud is less and less likely now, because to get issued a chequebook you need to have a credit check done, in most banks.


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## marksa (16 Jul 2011)

kimmage said:


> The UK Payments Council recently changed plans to abolish cheques by 2018. This was because they found a lot of elderly people relied on the payment method.


 
i agree - that is the case in some countries, where the only use of cheques is by the eldely - there still needs to be a fallback for them.


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## roker (16 Jul 2011)

I paid a €1000 deposit to well known car dealer by cheque, when he was unwilling to do maintenance jobs on it before I took delivery of the car, I stopped the cheque. Can you do this with other payments?


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## marksa (17 Jul 2011)

roker said:


> I paid a €1000 deposit to well known car dealer by cheque, when he was unwilling to do maintenance jobs on it before I took delivery of the car, I stopped the cheque. Can you do this with other payments?


 
One could look at that 2 ways - 


it's great for the consumer to be able to recall a payment for leverage
the retailer (in general) may have payments stoppped on them for unreasonable purposes even after they sell an item. Hence why car dealers generally look for drafts rather than personal cheques. Your car dealer in your specific case probably was naiive to have taken a personal cheque for a deposit.


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## beffers (17 Jul 2011)

Do Irish banks charge a fee for doing a stop payment on a cheque? My bank in the States does.


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## marksa (17 Jul 2011)

beffers said:


> Do Irish banks charge a fee for doing a stop payment on a cheque? My bank in the States does.


 
I believe they do - somewhere in the region of 5 -10 euro per cheque.

e.g. BoI €5.08
[broken link removed]


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## Delboy (21 May 2012)

just reviving this rather than open a new thread.
I had a new cheque book issued to me the other day by my bank...€12.50 in fees just hit my account. I did'nt ask for this latest cheque book as I felt there are enough in my current cheque book to get me through the next few years at the rate U use cheques.
My question- can banks just issue cheque books like that without being asked? Can I return it and get refunded on the fees?


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## kimmage (21 May 2012)

Delboy said:


> just reviving this rather than open a new thread.
> I had a new cheque book issued to me the other day by my bank...€12.50 in fees just hit my account. I did'nt ask for this latest cheque book as I felt there are enough in my current cheque book to get me through the next few years at the rate U use cheques.
> My question- can banks just issue cheque books like that without being asked? Can I return it and get refunded on the fees?



The Bank issued the chequebook as a matter of courtesy - usually when the book comes to the last 5 cheques it is automatically ordered and posted.

If you return the book they will refund the duty.

Its like when a Laser card comes to expiry a new one is ordered automatically unless instructed otherwise.


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## Delboy (21 May 2012)

thanks


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## Eithneangela (21 May 2012)

While I do most financial stuff electronically, a recent bill from a Management Company said an additional 4% would be charged if the bill was paid by Paypal/Credit Card. I could have tried to elicit their bank specific details to do a transfer in the bank, however it was much simpler to stick a check in the post. The stamp cost nothing - have you noticed how many times an Post don't actually frank over the stamp - I've become an expert at peeling off and reusing stamps.


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