Australia plans to end the use of checks by 2030 as more efficient digital methods become the preferred way of paying, according to a plan to overhaul the country’s payments system.
There’s been a rapid fall in the use of checks in the past 10 years, and they now comprise only 0.2% of non-cash payments in the country, according to the government plan released Wednesday.
About 98% of retail checks, and 100% of those used in institutional and commercial settings, could be serviced through internet or mobile banking, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said at a banking conference Wednesday.
Leaving checks in the system is “an increasingly costly way of servicing a declining fraction of payments,” he said.
The government will consult with industry and stakeholders on the matter, while focusing on removing legal and other barriers that entrench payment by check, and phase out the government’s own use of checks by 2028, it said.
