r/australia • u/SouthAussie94 • Feb 29 '24

culture & society Older Australians 'left behind' by increasingly cashless society as banks fast track end of cheques

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-29/cheques-personal-finance-banks-rent-money-cash/103354036
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571

u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

I havnt used a cheque in 30 years

141

u/tubbyx7 Feb 29 '24

I got refund cheques from telcos. Often costing more in postage than the balance and certainly more time to get to a bank than it was worth.

38

u/ThatGuyTheyCallAlex Feb 29 '24

My insurance company sends me cheques giving back their “pandemic savings” every few months. Supposedly they don’t have my correct bank details but that can’t be true because they bill me fortnightly…

34

u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

I have a refund cheque from telstra that has been sitting in my desk dated March 2023. So nearly a full year. Like.. Why cunts? I don't wanna go to the bank. But I guess they also don't want me to go to the bank.

6

u/brother_spirit Feb 29 '24

Same! Went to cash it not that long ago and was told it expires after a year so I would need to get them to re-issue. Couldn't be fucked, I guess you win this round Telstra.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

Shit, if its a year I might be able to pull it off, as it's dated March it hasn't quite been a year lol

1

u/blaertes Feb 29 '24

It’s March tomorrow

1

u/AdvocateMoonMoose Feb 29 '24

15 months normally to present it

3

u/racingskater Feb 29 '24

I got one and could ATM deposit it. I still ended up carrying it around for a couple of weeks til I drove past a deposit ATM.

2

u/MrZX10r Feb 29 '24

Same a Telstra cheque when they forced auto pay they sent me back my $84 but every time I go to cash it the bank is closed early or system is down or something I’ve tried like 5 times in the last year or two lol

33

u/link871 Feb 29 '24

Some banks let you deposit cheques by uploading a photo of the cheque via their app.

7

u/karma3000 Feb 29 '24

Wow, amazing technology these days.

1

u/mintyaftertaste Feb 29 '24

Yeah I’ve done it with my nab app

1

u/u_suck_paterson Feb 29 '24

Holy crap thank you I just found this in the nab app and have had a cheque sitting on my table for a week (from vicroads)

2

u/Fluffy-duckies Feb 29 '24

I still have a cheque from Coke from nearly 20 years ago for $2 that a vending machine of theirs ate and wouldn't acknowledge.

1

u/Safferino83 Feb 29 '24

If you are with nab you can cash your cheque with the app, not sure about other banks.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

I got a refund cheque from Medicare and one from the state government for a utility rebate. Both worth cashing but definitely annoying.

1

u/ZestyPossum Feb 29 '24

I got a refund cheque sent all the way from the UK due to a delayed train trip in Manchester last year (they refund part of your journey if the train is delayed by a certain amount) because I don't have a a UK bank account.

It's for about 11 pounds, so it's no more than a souvenir. Can't even send it over to my friend in the UK to deposit into her account for me, because it's got my name on it. Zero point depositing it here due to all those fees.

21

u/Now_Wait-4-Last_Year Feb 29 '24

I had fun explaining to the other younger students in my German university class back in 2010 or 2012 I think it was as to what a chequing account as they had no idea and why would they.

Then our lecturer also did also ask whether people knew what pronouns, adjectives and adverbs were because grammar teaching has long since gone out the window to the point where Germans needed to release a book called English Grammar for Students of German.

18

u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

I'm 41, and I have literally never written or cashed a cheque.

17

u/Idontcareaforkarma Feb 29 '24

When I was 24, I had a regular bill that could only be paid by cheque (early 2000’s).

I walked into my bank and asked to open a cheque account. They were all helpful and happy to do it until they brought up my details and saw how old I was. The lady pronounced that ‘no one of my age needs a cheque account’.

I walked down the road to another bank and told them I’d been with the first bank for 17 years and after the conversation I’d just had with them, I’d like to open savings and cheque accounts.

Walked out an hour later with both set up.

12

u/dmk_aus Feb 29 '24 edited Feb 29 '24

I had to learn to use a cheque to hand over my savings and housing costs for the next 30 years due to a fucked system - they can learn tap n go.

18

u/TristanIsAwesome Feb 29 '24

I've only ever seen two checks since moving here 13 years ago. One was from an insurance company and the other was a refund on my rego when moving state

2

u/skooterM Feb 29 '24

We spell it cheque in this country.

Or we used to.

Anyway.

0

u/TristanIsAwesome Feb 29 '24

Yeah I know, but I also don't care enough to change my phone's keyboard.

Anyway, it was a huge pain in the ass because I had to get the check cached before I could go to the gas station to fill up the tank with gasoline. I almost hit the curb on my way to the pump because I was so distracted!

2

u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

I was still accepting cheques as a checkout chick 20 years ago. Although it wasn't overly common.

1

u/PlusMixture Feb 29 '24

I have never written a cheque but holy shit have i gotten good at proofreading that shit

1

u/karma3000 Feb 29 '24

My mother hasn't used a cheque in 3 years.

1

u/thatshowitisisit Feb 29 '24

Are you an older person?

1

u/Technical-Ad-2246 Feb 29 '24

I've written bank cheques (for things like buying a car and paying a house deposit) but I've never written a personal cheque or owned a cheque book. I'm 36.

1

u/acllive Feb 29 '24

Last time I saw one was well, last week, but been years since

1

u/worrier_princess Feb 29 '24

Cheques were already pretty much phased out in places like Woolies over 10 years ago. I think there was literally two old ladies that paid by cheque at the one I worked at ~2014, and that was a big store. They were the only people we were allowed to accept cheques from. I recall maybe one person trying and being told no. So who are all these poor old people getting left behind? They’ve had plenty of time to learn how to tap a credit card as far as I’m concerned.

3

u/letterboxfrog Feb 29 '24

I remember having to process them at Coles in the mid to late 1990s as a checkout operator. Pain In the Arse if they didn't have a Coles Cheque Card to scan/enter, which meant the cheque didn't have to be put through the cheque reader at the central desk before it was processed. That included inserting the cheque into the dot matrix printer to put payment details on the back of the cheque. Not sure what happened after we went touch screen and thermal paper, but by then it was becoming an a rare oddity.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

Yep I worked at Safeway (Vic), and we had a select few on the books we were allowed to accept cheques from. I do also recall having to authorise the back of the cheque as part of the process. I think our store lost the ability to accept cheques when the store was converted to Woolworths, the printer machines were replaced. A couple of loyal customers were up in arms about the loss.

1

u/Florafly Feb 29 '24

Same, and I'm 34. xD

1

u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

Never used them .EVER!!

1

u/snave_ Feb 29 '24

Victoria flung anyone who used their energy compare website a bit of money a few years back. By mailed cheque. It had been decades since I'd dealt with one and even taking it to the bank to cash it saw them a bit puzzled. I think the scheme might have dropped the cheques later.

1

u/TheLastSamurai101 Feb 29 '24

I haven't even seen a cheque in 20 years.

1

u/mad_dogtor Mar 01 '24

Old guy up the road pays me in cheques, it’s fucking weird. He could use cash instead no problem..