The UK government says it’s launching a consultation in 2014 that could result in consumers taking photos of their cheques instead of taking the physical cheque to a bank. As a result, the money could be in a customer’s account within two days rather than six.
It’s considering faster cheque-processing technology that may let consumers take a picture of their cheque via an app on their smartphone and send it to their bank. Barclays aims to be the first bank to pilot this type of ‘mobile cheque deposit’ next year.
Sajid Javid MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said “The government is determined to create a banking sector that works for consumers and serves businesses. We want to see more innovation so that customers see the benefits of new technologies. That is why we’re creating a new payments regulator and why we are going to consult on speeding up the cheque clearing process. We want to take the very best of the current system and make it better. We want to cheques to have a crucial role in the ongoing success of the UK.”
Nearly £840 billion of cheques were processed in the UK last year.