It’s outdated.
It’s inefficient.
It’s slow.
All of these things are often used to describe paper cheques. On the surface, it seems that the adjectives sound just right, especially with the increasing usage of online banking and contactless payment systems.
But try using your credit card or transferring money through online banking when transacting with a small business . There’s a good chance that you’ll be asked to pay either by cash or cheque.
There’s no question that paper cheques are no longer at their peak, thanks to more and more organizations doing their part in the move toward a paperless society. The staying power of cheques, however, cannot be understated.
This applies in particular to small business owners, who stand to gain the most benefit from using cheques as a primary mode of payment. Everything happening in the digital world might be pointing to a different direction, but cheques continue serving a vital function for the mere fact that no perfect payment option exists for all transactions.
No Exorbitant Fees
It’s easy to imagine how beneficial it would be for any business to accept credit card payments. But once you look at the high processing fees, you’ll start scratching your head as you find ways to keep costs down. This explains why businesses that accept credit cards almost always accept cheque payments as well. In fact, it’s common for a business to offer a lower price tag for payments made by cash or cheque. All this is done to avoid the exorbitant fees that come with processing those plastic cards.
Monitor Paper Trail
Have you ever heard of horror stories about credit card users seeing fraudulent transactions on their statement? Or a cash buyer looking for a refund but has zero proof of purchase? These common problems can be avoided easily by writing cheques instead. Sure, cheques aren’t 100% safe from crooks, but they provide important information about every transaction, making proper documentation a breeze.
Correcting any transaction you don’t recognize on the credit card statement requires working with multiple parties. Problems with cash payments are even more difficult to deal with, especially without any paperwork. But the built-in paper trail that comes with issuing cheques allows you and the bank to keep track of every single transaction, so there’s proof that the payment is sent and deposited.
Great Control
Online banking makes consumers feel on top of all day-to-day expenses. Everything is just a few clicks away. It’s even possible to set up automatic payments, so you don’t have to worry about doing repetitive tasks. This park, however, can also lead to some problems. For instance, you may not have the opportunity to check whether you have enough balance before an automatic payment goes through.
There’s also the problem with certain bills which you can’t pay through online banking such as your monthly rental. You can work with your bank to issue a cheque for these bills, but taking the manual approach gives you greater control over your transactions.
Founder Dinis Guarda
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