I WRITE regarding inaccuracies in your article: ‘Why I will be sad to say goodbye to chequebooks’ Angela Kelly's page, September 13.

There are no plans to phase out cheques and I would like to reassure your readers that the cheque is here to stay. The project concerning the end of cheques — that the article refers to — was abandoned six years ago and, since that time, the industry has been working to ensure that the future is bright for the cheque.

From the end of next month a new, image-based cheque clearing system is being gradually rolled-out across the UK that will speed up the time it takes to clear a cheque, meaning customers will get their money more quickly. The new system will speed up the time it takes to clear a cheque from six weekdays to the end of the next weekday.

More information is available at www.chequeandcredit.co.uk.

James Radford

CEO

Cheque and Credit Clearing Company