Time to ditch the cheque? Reserve Bank governor says it’s in the ‘national interest’

The Reserve Bank of Australia governor says it’s in the “national interest” to ditch the cheque, but a financial services expert says it’s not a good idea.

The number of personal cheques written in Australia has dropped by 85 per cent in the past decade.

But adjunct professor at Swinburne University, Steve Worthington, who specialises in financial services, says ditching cheques would be unpopular.

“The backlash would be far greater than the benefit,” he told Neil Mitchell.

“Particularly people of an older age group still use cheques, and even people in rural communities … because there’s less and less ATMs there and less bank branches.

“I think that it would be a mistake to ban it outright because it would upset a lot of people.”

Professor Worthington says it would be better to allow cheques to “wither on the vine”.

“In the next 10 years it will wither on the vine to insignificance.”

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