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Apacs releases cheque clearing guide

Guidance on how to safely use cheques was issued yesterday by payments association Apacs.

The body admitted, however, that the new advice was being aimed at an increasingly small number of people - cheque transactions having halved over the last decade.

In fact, cheques as a whole look to be in terminal decline, with major retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Tesco no longer accepting them.

Simple steps such as double-checking dating and striking out unused space come highly recommended by Apacs.

Sandra Quinn, director of communications at APACS and spokesperson for C& CCC, said: "Cheques have been around for over 300 years and in the last few years they've become less popular as other payment methods have come along.

"As cheque payments become less common its easy to forget some of the rules for writing and paying in cheques - this new guide offers straightforward advice to keep safe, and tips on alternative payment methods."

A total of 1.8 billion cheques were transacted in the UK in 1997.

This figure had reduced to just 890 million by last year.

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