Photos of cheques to be accepted as payment by UK banks
The Cheque and Credit Clearing Company (C&CCC) will introduce a platform that enables users to pay cheques by uploading a photograph of the cheque to their mobile banking app. The technology will go live with a number of banks and building societies from 30 October, with others launching the service in the second half of 2018. C&CCC's platform will reduce cheque-clearing times from six working days to the next working day. In 2014, Barclays began to trial a mobile cheque imaging scheme for cheques of up to £500 ($629) and now has 175,000 people signed up to the service.

Cheques will be brought firmly into the 21st century this year when new technology will finally arrive, allowing customers to pay them into banks and building societies with a photo.

The industry-wide system will enable images of cheques to be exchanged between financial firms instead of moving paper ones around the country.

This should slash the the length of time it takes a cheque to clear from six working days to the next working day - and enable customers to pay in money with a photograph of a cheque uploaded to their mobile banking app.

SEE HOW IT WORKS BELOW

The move is a remarkable turnaround in the life of the cheque, which was close to extinction just five years ago when there were serious calls for them to be scrapped.

The Cheque and Credit Clearing Company, which manages the cheque clearing system, said the new system will go live with a number banks and building societies from October 30.

It will be the second half of 2018 before all of them offer the service. The exact date for this happening will be announced in the future, while C&CCC says it doesn't know who precisely will be on board come October and that firms will be announcing individual plans in due course.

Some banks have already been trialling paying cheques in with photographs, but the service has not been widespread.

The new technology should now pave the way for banks and building societies to roll out paying in cheques by photograph, if they decide to offer the service.

For customers paying in cheques under the new system, it means they will be able to withdraw the funds - and be certain that the cheque will not bounce - by the end of the next 'weekday' after the cheque has been paid in at the latest.

Cheque mate: People will be able to pay in cheques with images from their mobile or tablets later in the year

James Radford, chief executive of C&CCC, said: 'These changes will put cheques firmly in the 21st century, delivering real and important benefits for the many individuals, charities and businesses that regularly use cheques.

'At present, the cheque clearing process involves paper cheques being transported around the country.

'After paying in a cheque, it takes up to two weekdays before the recipient can earn interest on the money, four weekdays before they can withdraw the cash and six weekdays before the recipient can be certain that it will not be returned unpaid.'

The new cheque imaging system means that digital images of cheques can be exchanged between banks and building societies - speeding up the process as cheques will not have to go on a physical journey.

Under the new system, people will still write paper cheques as they do now - and they will also still be able to pay them in over the counter at their local bank if they choose to, where the bank will create an image of the cheque and exchange it electronically.

But if someone receives cheques, instead of going to their bank to pay them in, they could instead upload images of them on to their mobile banking app to pay them in.

Corporate and charity customers may also be offered a scanning facility by their bank if they have large numbers of cheques to process.

Despite consumers' increasing appetite for internet and mobile banking, 477million cheques were still used for payments and to acquire cash across the UK in 2016.

Barclays has already introduced cheque imaging for its customers.

In May 2014, it launched a pilot mobile cheque imaging scheme for customers registered to use Barclays mobile banking.

Barclays said it now has 175,000 customers signed up to use the service and customers can still apply to join the pilot, enabling them to pay in Barclays cheques of up to £500 quickly.

Ashok Vaswani, chief executive of Barclays UK, said: 'Cheques are one of the oldest forms of payments and we wholeheartedly welcome this announcement which brings them fully into the digital age.'



