Financial crisis may highlight value of cheques
SOMETHING significant took place recently as a result of coronavirus penetration into the United States of America. President Trump announced to those awaiting relief from financial anxieties that ‘‘their cheques would be mailed out to them during the next few days’’.
Were such relief payments to be made in New Zealand, how could that be brought about with a banking system that seems fixated upon doing away with cheques altogether, presumably in pursuit of a mirage in which we seem determined to lead the world, ‘‘the cashless society’’?
Retirees, especially, value cheque services, because they are caught in a squeeze between effectively reduced disposable incomes and everrising, and frequently unnecessary, calls upon what finances they receive.
Meticulously maintained cheque butts, reconciled, on their arrival, with bank statements, are a logical way of keeping everything on track.
The appallingly low savings of most New Zealanders are about to see many plunged into poverty, due to coronavirus measures being taken and their employment evaporating before their eyes.
Retirees, on fixed incomes, do not have the flexibility, nor possibly the time, to effect recoveries if they descend into debt.
Cheques remain a good way to maintain control over their expenditure.
I know of none of the present services being offered by the banks that even come close; and if they can be effective, is it not logical to assume that the US would have been on to them first?
Ian Smith
Waverley
Rabbit response
Margaret Hall (Letters, 25.3.20) asks for a response from Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage, concerning the rabbit problem in Central Otago.
And what do we get from Ms Sage? A lecture about the problem. Then she explains what the Department of Conservation plans to do in a small area near the Clutha River and Lake Dunstan.
Clearly, this minister has no idea of the scale of the problem.
Annette Wale
Wanaka
Paper praise
THIS morning, I have once again received my Otago Daily Times
delivered to my doorstep.
This paper is ‘‘tossed’’ from a vehicle long before I get out of bed but I would like you to pass on my gratitude to the person(s) responsible as I not only gain from the information the paper contains but thoroughly enjoy doing the Code Cracker and both crosswords.
I have to say that, even as a person in their 80s, I do not normally have as much time to spend on these activities, but with the current lockdown they are a lifesaver. Very many thanks.
Heather Wyatt
Mornington