When I first took over the practice in 1999, it was very common for patients to pay by cheque. At that time we were unable to take card payments so this is not surprising.
However, in common with many other businesses, the number of cheque transactions has fallen dramatically in the last couple of years. We now only receive 2-3 cheques per week. This means that the work involved in banking them has become disproportionate to the value usually involved. Also, the banks have ceased the cheque guarantee scheme and so they are more risky to us than other methods.
It has been decided that with effect from 2nd January 2014, we will cease accepting cheques. This delay will allow us to tell those of our patients who currently pay this way about the change.
We are keen to accept cash payments instead and able to accept payments by most debit and credit cards for larger amounts.