[imagesource: 123RF/Andriy Popov]

I can’t remember the last time I saw a cheque.

They seem like relics of days past – the sort of thing that your parents carried around.

But they’re still out there.

However, with the myriad electronic payment options available, it’s not at all surprising that they’re going the same way as those little banking books that your grandparents used to withdraw cash.

The latest step towards their demise is a new directive from the South African Revenue Service (SARS), which says that it will be discontinuing the use of cheques from next year.

Per BusinessTech:

“Following the decision by South African banks to discontinue cheques as a form of payment, SARS has decided not to accept cheques as a form of payment at customs ports of entry from 14 December 2020 and at banks from 1 January 2021,” the revenue collector said.

Instead, you have the options of eFiling, Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), or making payments at a bank branch (ABSA, Capitec, FNB, Nedbank, and Standard Bank are all on board).

Travellers entering or leaving South Africa will be able to pay cash at the point of entry.

“Taxpayers are reminded that all payments must contain the correct beneficiary ID and payment reference number (PRN). Detailed payment information is available on the SARS website,” it said.

Historically, via Standard Bank, you were able to make payments of up to R5 million using a cheque, but that limit has reduced over time, landing on R50 000 as of May 1.

The rise in cheaper alternatives like electronic banking has pushed the cheque out of favour.

“We will align with a co-ordinated industry phase-out plan in order to help clients transition, especially given the business process changes that will need to take place across all stakeholders. Our clients will have between August to the end of December 2020 to adopt new payment methods,” said Busi Radebe, head of payment at Standard Bank.

FNB is following suit, with clients no longer able to issue cheques as of January 1, 2021.

Nedbank intends to phase out the use of cheques over the course of 2021.

Anton de Wet, chief client officer at Nedbank Retail and Business Banking, says that the COVID-19 pandemic has strengthened South African banks’ resolve to move away from cheques.

“The outbreak of Covid-19 has exacerbated the decline in cheque usage tremendously and even with the increase in economic activity under relaxed lockdown conditions we have seen previous users staying away from cheques and moving to digital and card payment solutions,” he said.

Goodbye, cheque book – you had a good run.

There’s a joke about cheques bouncing in there, somewhere.

[source:businesstech]