TKL: Nothing Has Changed After 40 Years!

[makapaaa]

Jul 3, 2010

Cheques are cumbersome and redundant

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I WROTE my first cheque 40 years ago. The rules were to write the amount in figures and words, to write the date and spell the name of the payee correctly. Any alteration to the cheque had to be signed.
This was at a time when computers were not widely used. Yet, even to this day, these archaic rules remain.
It has always been tedious to write a cheque and to avoid making mistakes. If the payor makes any mistake, regardless of how minor or inconsequential, the bank will return the cheque for correction. The bank staff are usually ill-prepared to exercise any discretion and common sense.
Many countries have done away with cheques and I understand that they are hardly used in China.
In many countries, the payor can make a payment by a direct transfer through the Internet or at a bank counter. The payor needs to write only the payee's account number and the amount in figures, without being required to spell the figures in words as cheque users must.
Yet, Singapore continues the archaic practice of making most payments by using cheques, instead of a simpler, existing way.
While payment can now be made through Internet banking, the process is tiresome and unsuitable for one-off payments.
I hope the Monetary Authority of Singapore will take the lead in introducing a simple system of direct banking transfer.
It will cut down the tedious process of processing cheques through the banking system. The private sector cannot take the lead in making this change as they do not have the regulatory powers.
Tan Kin Lian

 

[kingrant]

TKL is wrong. DBS has an iB cheque payment method. Drawer can "write" the cheque electronically, the payee, the address and the amount and the e-cheque will be sent by DBS for a fee of $1 per cheque.

I have been using it whenever I have to issue a cheque.

 

[scoobyhoo]

TKL is wrong. DBS has an iB cheque payment method. Drawer can "write" the cheque electronically, the payee, the address and the amount and the e-cheque will be sent by DBS for a fee of $1 per cheque.

I have been using it whenever I have to issue a cheque.

$1 a cheque? other banks' cheques are free-of-charge.

You must be very rich or you seldom issue cheques.

 

[downgrader]

no lah, write cheque for sp bill payment, tv licence, etc is the best

write and sign from comfort of home and pop into the mailbox

create job for postmen and

internet transfer must have internet account, axs must queue up and very leh ceh

cheque is the best, why is it progress when it is less comfortable

 

[kingrant]

You can't compare the paper cheque and this e-cheque.

Actually, it'll cost you 20 cents for a paper cheque and postagestamp of 30 cents. So you are already talking 50 cts.

With an electronic cheque issued from the convenience of yr home PC, that $1 is price of comfort and convenience, compared with posting an actual cheque. So the extra paid is 50 cts.

The issue is not about the $1. The issue is that TKL said nothing has changed for last 40 years because he still needed to depend on the old cheque system. So I have just enlightened him that there is a new electronic cheque payment by DBS. Nobody said anything about comparing costs. Sure, you want convenience and you dont want to pay? How can? Why do you think 711's and other convenience stores charge slightly higher prices?

$1 a cheque? other banks' cheques are free-of-charge.

You must be very rich or you seldom issue cheques.

 

[Ramseth]

Internet (or even ATM) 3rd party transfer payments have been around more than a decade. All you need is the payee's bank account number. The problem is not with the banks or MAS, but with people who're concerned about giving away account numbers. It turns the table on the issues security and privacy risks, from where cheque issuers are the ones revealing their acccount numbers (printed on their cheques).

 

[kingrant]

I have been using internet banking all this while. However, there are still orgs that have not gone over to iB yet. The Chinese Swimming Club is one of them, where I still haveto post a physical cheque.

Another issue is bank to bank. My Visa card was issued by UOB but - in this case, TKL is right, nothing has changed in past 40 yrs - I can't pay my credit card bills via internet banking from a DBS account, and I need to open an acct with UOB before I can do so. I suspect it has to do with making the other guy difficult if he is a rival. Much like the PAP vs the Opp.

Internet (or even ATM) 3rd party transfer payments have been around more than a decade. All you need is the payee's bank account number. The problem is not with the banks or MAS, but with people who're concerned about giving away account numbers. It turns the table on the issues security and privacy risks, from where cheque issuers are the ones revealing their acccount numbers (printed on their cheques).

 

[Ramseth]

I have been using internet banking all this while. However, there are still orgs that have not gone over to iB yet. The Chinese Swimming Club is one of them, where I still haveto post a physical cheque.

Again, this is an issue with the payee or payee organisation. Nothing to do with banks or MAS as TKL suggested.

Another issue is bank to bank. My Visa card was issued by UOB but - in this case, TKL is right, nothing has changed in past 40 yrs - I can't pay my credit card bills via internet banking from a DBS account, and I need to open an acct with UOB before I can do so. I suspect it has to do with making the other guy difficult if he is a rival. Much like the PAP vs the Opp.

This is the real issue with banks and MAS. Artificially imposed blockades for so-called competition. Ever wonder why you can withdraw cash from foreign ATMs with your DBS card, but can't do so with OCBC or UOB locally? This is the type of articially imposed competition that led to the StarHub and SingTel World Cup fiasco. Spending money to inconvenience everyone and/or overcharge everyone when none of incovenience or overcharge is needed to make a decent return out of rendering a decent service.

 

[lifeafter41]

Sometimes too much of a convenience takes the control away from the person. Giro is a good example, deduction is automatic, and I am sure error do occurs, double deduction, etc....

Old way of cheque system still does have it's merit. Paying of bills whether monthly, is just a monthly affair, where you still retain controls over one's finances and balance one's budget.

 

[kingrant]

Not true really. In iB you still have control since you can specify when you want the payment or transfer to take place.

Sometimes too much of a convenience takes the control away from the person. Giro is a good example, deduction is automatic, and I am sure error do occurs, double deduction, etc...


Old way of cheque system still does have it's merit. Paying of bills whether monthly, is just a monthly affair, where you still retain controls over one's finances and balance one's budget.

 

[shelltox]

his face didnt change after 40 years

 

[jw5]

GIRO deductions can help in convenience, but people who do that should always monitor their accounts and bills.
If you don't do that and assume that everything will be all right, you are just asking for trouble, because mistakes do happen.

 

[kingrant]

internet banking is better. Unlike Giro where the payment schedule is always fixed, in iB, you have a choice of an immediate transfer/payment, or a recurrent one on a fixed date (so like giro), or a Future transfer/payment on a date of yr choosing.

Giro's are more lecheh...they take weeks to set up or to change, and all kinds of forms to fill in.

iB as far as POSB DBS are concerned, only needs one visit to the ATM to apply for iB.

GIRO deductions can help in convenience, but people who do that should always monitor their accounts and bills.
If you don't do that and assume that everything will be all right, you are just asking for trouble, because mistakes do happen.