I’d like to tell you a little story about a recent project I worked on and how payment for it was incredibly slow partly due to the inefficiency of cheques!
I rebuilt a website for a 3rd party client via a client of my own in February this year and have only just been paid. On the 20th August my client was asked to come to a meeting with the 3rd party guy so he could give him a cheque for the work. Here’s what happened next:
- My client receives the cheque and lodges it in his account manually,
- We wait a week for the cheque to clear,
- My Client writes a cheque from his account for me,
- Client travels to post cheque to me,
- Over a week later, still no sign of the cheque my end,
- Client cancels cheque,
- Client sends payment via PayPal,
- Money cleared and ready to spend within 2/3days.
Total waiting time of around 30 days from when the initial cheque was written to me being able to spend the money! And a total of around 7 months waiting for payment from when the work was complete!
Can anyone see the problem here!?
Today the 19th September 2014 is “E-day” when all government departments will cease sending and receiving cheques for payment in favor of electronic payments such as Debit Card and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). It is estimated that €1 billion is lost yearly in Ireland through cheque usage and it creates massive cashflow issues for small businesses like mine. I think all non-government business should follow suit and abandon cheques for digital payments. It’s easier and cheaper for all concerned.
More info on E-Day here – Jointheevolution.ie
Let me know if you’d like help setting up a Credit/Debit card payment system on your website.
Leon
Reverb Studios Design 