15 February 2008
The death knell for cheques might have been rung by new research from payments association APACS.
Annual figures for 2007 measured the fastest-ever period of decline for cheques - which saw a 9% drop across the year.
APACS' announcement comes in the wake of Marks and Spencer and Tesco deciding to stop accepting cheques in their stores.
This in turn followed similar declarations from rivals Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Asda.
Spokesperson for the association Sandra Quinn said: "The main reason we have seen a massive increase in the rate of cheque decline during the past year is the death of the cheque on the high street, where increasingly retailers have chosen not to accept cheques.
"There have also been changes by some corporations to discourage consumers from paying by cheque and using direct debits instead."
Around 1.6 billion cheques were written during 2007 - down from 1.8 billion the previous year.
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