Age Concern and Help the Aged response to cheque decision

In response to the Payment Council's decision to set a target date of 2018 to close the cheque clearing system, Andrew Harrop, Head of Public Policy for Age Concern and Help the Aged, said: "This move by the Payments Council will leave millions of older people worrying about how they will manage their finances without cheques.

"2018 is the date set for the withdrawal of cheques, but we are concerned that this will give the green light to banks and retailers to start phasing them out even sooner.  Chip and pin is problematic for many older and housebound people and we know 6.4 million over 65's have never used the internet. Without cheques, we are very concerned people will be forced to keep large amounts of cash in their home, leaving them vulnerable to theft and financial abuse.

"The Payments Council needs to urgently come up with some practical alternatives to replace cheques or it will be condemning thousands of older people to extra worry, cost and financial insecurity."