Local councillor welcomes good news on Save Cheque Campaign

Local Liberal Democrat, Cllr Michael Mullaney has welcomed news that a senior government minister and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) support the future of cheques.

The Financial Secretary to the Treasurey, Mark Hoban MP has said there is no "credible and coherent case" for axing cheques before an alternative is fully tested. Whilst Brian Hartzer, head of RBS retail operations, recently said that: "RBS NatWest is not going to get rid of cheques unless there is a viable alternative and unless customers are ready for it".

The Payments Council - which represents all major high street banks - announced its decision to phase out all cheques by 2018, even though over 4 million cheques are still issued every day.

Cllr Michael Mullaney, the Lib Dems parliamentary spokesman for Hinckley and Bosworth said "The news that a government Minister and one of the big banks are prepared to support the future of cheques is positive.

"Cheque users need to keep up the pressure on the banks to follow RBS's example and reject the Payments Council's timetable for phasing out cheques. Here in Hinckley and Bosworth our petition to Save the Cheque is still receiving lots of signatures every week. I would urge anybody locally who is concerned about the threat to cheques to visit www.bosworthlibdems.org.uk and sign the petition"

Earlier this year Michael Mullaney and Bosworth Liberal Democrats sent a 2,500 strong petition from people in Hinckley and Bosworth to the Prime Minister opposing the scrapping of cheques. They will be sending another batch of petitions that they have collected since then to David Cameron later in the year.

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