End of an era: no more ‘cheques in the mail’ for South Africans

I have never owned a cheque book. The only cheques I have ever written were in high school accounting class. South Africans are reaching the end of an era in banking. As we ring in the new year, we will bid farewell to the cheque. The cheque will join casette tapes, dial-up internet and the rotary dial phone on the list of  things our children will never know. The South African Reserve Bank (SARB), Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) and the Banking Association South Africa (BASA) have released a statement announcing the end of all issuing, processing and use of cheques in the national system on December 31 2020. The announcement lists fraud, declining use and ageing interbank cheque processing infrastructure as reasons for their removal.- Melani Nathan