Cheques 'still important' for landlords

News Category: Industry News

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The demise of cheques could be bad news for landlords, the Residential Landlords Association (RLA) has warned.

Officials from the Payments Council Board recently announced that it planned to end cheque clearing in 2018 because of the sharp decline in cheque usage.

The body said it intends to look at alternative systems in the coming years before reviewing the future of cheques again in 2016.

While electronic transfers and debit cards have removed the need for cheques in many circumstances, some small businesses still rely on them to collect payments.

This is especially true for landlords, according to the RLA's chairman Alan Ward, as cheques provide a simple and secure method of payment for large sums of money.

"Currently the alternative would be to take cash which has a security risk to the tenant and landlord when carrying large amounts on their person," said Mr Ward.

He added that cheques also provide an easy form of proof of receipt, which both parties can verify via their bank statements.

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