Aussie cheques are dying - but APCA throws a lifeline

Referencing the move by Barclays in the UK to introduce mobile cheque imaging in response to the reversal of banking industry plans to kill off cheques by 2018, APCA CEO Chris Hamilton recently said that type of technology could be seen in Australia in the next few years. 

But any vendors involved in implementing Check21 in the US last decade and looking to hawk their expertise down under shouldn't get too excited. Aussie banks have not yet shown any interest in cheque imaging, and particularly given the scale of investment required, are more likely to stand on the sidelines as cheques die a drawn-out death.

The monthly decline in cheque volumes over ten years to June 2013 represents a 67% drop. The trend line suggests that based on current rate of decline, and assuming there is no levelling out before it reaches zero, there will be no cheques used in Australia by the end of 2017.

Cheque values remain more resilient, suggesting that higher value business cheques are more persistent than lower value personal cheques. But in its most recent Milestones report , APCA reckons that the new real-time payments infrastructure under development will further reduce business cheque usage. 

The design and plan phase for the New Payments Platform (NPP) Program has been completed, and the steering committee plans to release details of the vendor sourcing process later this month.