Cheques here to stay thanks to strong NFU lobbying
Persistent NFU lobbying has seen plans to phase out cheques scrapped by the Payments Council.
The move follows an unprecedented response to the NFU banking survey with the views and feedback of our members helping with a strong evidence submission to the Treasury Select Committee earlier this year.
NFU economics adviser James Edwards said: Im extremely pleased that the NFUs strong lobbying has paid off and that weve succeeded in our efforts to get this policy binned. Our members comments and overwhelming support in completing the banking survey were the critical factors in getting the voice of farmers and small businesses heard.
The NFU was one of only four small business organisations that submitted written evidence to the Select Committee, and this clearly played a key role in changing the minds of the Payments Council hierarchy. It was commented on how our evidence stood out in terms of its quality and balance of the arguments that were presented.
We made it clear all along that cheques are a vital form of payment for small farming businesses. Results from our banking survey revealed that farmers use cheques to make almost 40 per cent and to receive more than 44 per cent of payments.
Any alternative to the cheque needs to be better in terms of easy use and cost but online methods arent universally available in many rural areas. However, we will continue to work with the Payments Council to look at getting a viable card machine for farm shops.
- The business organisations that submitted written evidence to the Treasury Select Committee were: NFU, Forum of Private Business, The National Market Traders’ Federation, British Independent Retailers Association
- The NFU written submission to the Treasury Select Committee can be viewed here