It was reported at the end of last year that plans have been announced for a change in the banking system, to allow cheques to be paid in via SmartPhone.
This is something that will be particularly relevant to the self-employed, where they may have clients paying them by cheque.
Instead of having to take time away from the business, as well as incur travel expenses, in order to visit a bank it is planned that cheque deposits can be dealt with through an app.
It is planned that people will be able to take a picture of the cheque via an app, and this will be processed in a similar manner to having physically handed the cheque into a branch.
One other improvement is planned as well, a reduction in the time it takes to process cheques – from 6 days at present to a planned 2 days.
Over the last few years I have noticed an increasing move towards electronic bank transfers, however the cheque still has a place – with the new systems this will help reduce costs for small business.