The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) will no more issue cheque books to customers by June 16 due to declining use.
The change is expected to affect the thousands of Australians as they will no longer be able to access cheque books.
ANZ said the customers already using the method will not be impacted by the change. Added that the change is because this method has been outpaced by online and electronic transactions in recent years.
“ANZ has communicated to customers it is phasing out cheque books due to the ongoing decline in usage. Just 3.5% of our customers who are eligible for a cheque book have one or are actively using cheques,” ANZ spokesperson told 9news.
Number of Cheque users in Australia has declined by 90 per cent in the last decade. Only 160,000 of customers use the method among 4.6 million customers of ANZ.
It is not only ANZ winding down the cheque method but also other banks including CBA, NAB. Macquarie and Bendigo Bank have already begun the phase out cheques.