Bank of New Zealand (BNZ), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) and Westpac have decided to phase out cheques following the shift toward digital modes post Covid-19 lockdown.

The move comes after Kiwibank, a subsidiary of the New Zealand Post, stopped accepting cheques at the end of February this year.

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The Covid-19 lockdown has pushed customers into using digital and online services for their daily banking needs, which lead to a steady decline in cheque usage.

BNZ plans to phase out cheques by July 2021, while ANZ and Westpac have not yet decided on an end date.

BNZ chief customer officer Paul Carter said: “The number of customers using cheques had been steadily declining over the past five years and the increased use of digital and online services over the lockdown period has hastened that decline.”

Carter assures that by next year, customers will have access to alternative solutions for the majority of the services that traditionally used cheques.

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ANZ, although did not decide on an end date, has stated that it would be phasing out cheques in 2021.

The cheque usage at ANZ had reportedly declined 20% year-on-year from 2017 to 2018 and continued to decline as customers use digital methods.

A spokesman for ANZ said: “We will be letting customers know in the next couple of months. Less than 1% of our customers now use cheques regularly.”

Westpac also unveiled a plan to stop accepting and issuing cheques and would give ‘plenty of notices’ to customers before fully abandoning the service.

In a statement, the bank said: “Cheque usage has been falling for many years, with many customers now preferring to use digital payments, which can be faster, safer and cheaper than using cheques.”