English Yokel

Cheques are an endangered species

When Yokel was in his local market town recently he noticed that one of the shops, a nationwide retailer of electrical and electronic goods had a notice in the window stating that "mobile phones can only be purchased by credit card". The hair on the back of Yokel's neck went up. We know that the reason they push credit and debit cards so much these days is that the government has a hook into the bank computers and knows all that is going on. Seach for Matrix and TIA for the story in the US, the UK will be no different, it just hasn't made the interweb.

Of course the retailer doesn't take cheques these days "There's no demand for them!" Have you ever tried paying for petrol with a cheque recently? Yokel would be surprised if you had any success. And now Tesco are making a big splash about refusing to accept cheques from the end of February 2008. So it won't be too long before they really do become extinct. Most retailers refuse them now. In fact Yokel expects it from any trader these days. "There's no call for it, you see". And the banks appear to sit idly by, and let it all happen.

But in reality, it is the banks who are pushing it. The lever they use on the traders is liability. If the trader accepts a fruadulently issued cheque, that is the trader's problem. It says so in the law. Most retail traders would have had insurance in days gone by. But with the clamour to cut costs, that insurance premium has come under scrutiny. Especially as the banks offer traders a risk free option. If the trader takes payment by "Chip and PIN" card, then the bank indemnifies the trader against fraudulent transactions. Is it any surprise that traders by the score are falling for the blarney, falling for the snake oil salesman in a suit?

As banks are not exactly famous for giving anything away free unless is has been extracted from between firmly clenched teeth, why are they doing it? Given their self perceived need to make obscene profits, how can they afford it? Its really quite simple, they don't, the bank customer does! The law is silent on fraudulent payment card liability, so up steps the Banking Code of Practice, and the banks' Terms and Conditions. Read them carefully and you will see that if someon clones or steals your card, and uses it with your PIN to complete a fraudulent transaction, you are liable unless you can convince the bank security department that you are not guilty! The Police are not interested. Anywhere else but the banking industry, and it would be unfair under Trading Standards legislation. This is what our NuLabour guvverment wants.

And if they haven't tilted the balance far enough against the bank customer already, they are now forcing RFID enabled cards on customers, no consent needed. Cards that can be read, easily, without the person carrying the card being any the wiser. Just like the RFID enabled passports bing issued by the UK amongst many others. How on earth can the card holder protect against fraudulent transactions with this technology. Come back tin-foil wallets, all is forgiven!

Why are the banks immune? Conspiracy theorists can have free rein but Yokel would not be surprised if it were related to Revelation 13 vv 16 - 17. No we are not there yet, but we are being prepared to accept it as normal. How much longer has cash? How many more big robberies before "they" start to play the Elfin Safety card, proposing that cash is "just too dangerous" for society to tolerate?