John Thurso backs call for cheque guarantee card rethink

LOCAL MP John Thurso has backed a report which urges a rethink over the recent abolition of the cheque guarantee card.

The Treasury Committee report argues that without some form of guarantee scheme the future of the cheque could still be in doubt and notes an increasing number of shops refusing to accept cheques since the guarantee card was withdrawn at the end of June.

“The backlash against the banks’ proposals to get rid of cheques has demonstrated how important they remain as a method of payment, particularly in more remote areas like the Highlands,” said the MP.

“It is therefore perverse to have abolished the cheque guarantee card.

“Our report calls on both the Payments Council and the Government to rethink this decision.”

A Treasury Select Committee member, John Thurso co-sponsored a bill in Parliament opposing the Payments Council’s original decision to scrap the cheque by 2018.

The decision was reversed in July but the guarantee card became defunct.

As well as revisiting the issue of the cheque guarantee scheme, the committee wants to strip the Payments Council of the ability to decide on the abolition of the cheque by bringing it under the scope of financial regulation.