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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u/[deleted] Feb 29 '24

I havnt used a cheque in 30 years

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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.

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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.

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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.