1 September 2006
uSwitch, the price comparison and switching website, has announced its support for the Royal Bank of Scotland's decision to permanently withdraw credit card cheques.
It has called for other banks to follow suit with a ban on unsolicited credit card cheques and restricting their distribution only to those people who have 'opted-in' to receive them.
Nick White, uSwitch head of personal finance, said: "Just weeks before the DTI is expected to announce findings of its enquiry into credit card cheques, The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and NatWest have already taken action by completely withdrawing cheques for new and existing customers.
"This has brought the number of card providers who issue cheques down from eleven to ten, certainly a step in the right direction and one which we hope other providers will follow.
"We estimate that a total of 144 million cheques have been issued to over 18 million customers, 98% of which were unsolicited. Credit card cheques have long been regarded as one of the key contributors to bad debt. The decision by RBS hardly comes as a surprise given the increased focus that the banks have placed in combating the bad debt epidemic, which has been increasingly eating into their profit margins."
Other changes uSwitch wants to see include a prohibition on sending cheques to customers who have only made the minimum payment on their account for the last three months and a requirement for a prominent tobacco-style 'health warning' on all cheques.
Find your perfect credit card with uSwitch.com's free and impartial credit card comparison service.