Customer cheques ''are alive and kicking''

Reports of the demise of customer cheques as a method of payment are exaggerated, it has been claimed.

Over the last ten years official figures show that cheque use has halved from 1.8 billion cheques in 1997 to 890 million last year.

However, according to a spokesperson for HSBC, although there has undoubtedly been "significant decline", its own customers still favour cheques and the trend away from their use appears to slowing.

He explained: "It''s not accelerating, but there still remains a strong core of people who like using cheques and indeed a fairly strong segment of the market, when it comes to the retailers, who accept cheques.

"Those are small independent retailers and service providers such as trades people, who find it convenient and easy."

Should cheques continue to decline in use at their current rate, HSBC estimates that 2.5 million people will still be paying with them by 2016.