Brat or scam?

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Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 7:59 pm

Quote:

if a customer has a cheque book, then he/she should have a valid debit card to support it anyway,

Really? That's news to me Rolling Eyes

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:05 pm

I may be getting a case of the misread rolly eyes here BK, can you clarify what you mean?

All I was saying is that most banks these days are issuing a cheque guarantee card with a cheque book. Most shops will never entertain the thought of accepting a cheque without the guarantee card. And the guarantee card can be used as a means of payment alone.

Now if that was obvious information to you then fair enough, but it may not have been obvious to everyone.

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:11 pm

Okay I guess a check book in the UK is vastly different than in the US. In the US, a check book is a check book, and a "debit card" is a piece of plastic that appears to work like a credit card except that you have to enter a pin number and it withdraws the money straight from your checking account instead of running a balance of what you owe for the end of the month. I thought you were suggesting that anyone who has a check book should also have the latter, and as most people I know do *not,* I was rather confused.

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:47 pm

I see. In the UK a cheque book is now sod all use without the card that backs it up, and that has to be a debit card or credit card. I see what you mean now. Smile

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:03 am

As a person (in Australia), who has cause to accept cheques regularly, I applaud the legislature, who a few years back, introduced laws into the Criminal Code, making it an offence to issue a cheque without sufficient funds to cover that cheque.
Whilst direct transfer is rapidly overtaking the use of cheques here, that law has reduced the number of bounced cheques significantly.
Whilst the penalty is usually a fine in the magistrate's court, the attendant publicity is sufficient to deter most would be offenders.
I recall the days when business people, mainly publicans, reserved a substantial part of a wall for displaying dishonoured cheques. That was also effective in reducing the number of dud cheques.

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:07 am

Mugatu

Quote:

I see. In the UK a cheque book is now sod all use without the card that backs it up, and that has to be a debit card or credit card. I see what you mean now.

This is not correct. Just to muddy the waters. I am in the UK and I have a bank account with a cheque book and a Cheque Guarantee card which is not a debit card. I have a seperate Cash Card for hole in the wall withdrawals. I use cheques to pay bills as there is more of an audit trail if things get disputed later on or if something goes wrong.

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 8:55 pm

It's an offence to issue a cheque when there are insufficient funds in the account in many countries, not just Australia. It's seldom enforced of course but it has nothing to do with the fact that banks earn a lot of money from bounced cheque fees. Cynic, moi?