Money from cheques will soon arrive in customers’ accounts the same day

From October, you will be able to take a photo of the document in your home for bank to upload

By and BANK account holders cashing in cheques will see the money cleared within a day under a revolutionary new system being installed by banks later this year.

From October cutting edge imaging software will let people pay in cheques from the comfort of their own living rooms by taking photos of them using their tablets and smartphones.

It will dramatically speed up the process by letting banks upload and share the images, instead of moving paper versions around the country.

The move is the result of a Treasury consultation on making cheque payments faster and more effective for consumers and small businesses who regularly receive cheques. At present cheques are by far the slowest form of payment as they can take up to six working days to clear.

The Cheque and Credit Clearing Company welcomed the move saying it would “bring cheques into the 21st century” and benefit “the many individuals, charities and businesses that regularly use cheques”.

Banks will introduce the system from Oct 30, with everyone set to have it in place by the second half of 2018.

Although the rise of contactless and chip and PIN payments has led to a sharp decline in cheque payments, some 477 million cheques were still cashed in 2016.

Banks including Barclays and Lloyds have already tested out imaging technology, but currently only their own cheques can be paid in.

This UK-wide system will mean cheques can be cashed in even if the cheque writer uses a different bank.

Regulators and the Government had initially wanted to have the system in place last summer, but progress to get the technology in place had been slow and the launch was delayed.

A source at Barclays told The Daily Telegraph at the time that “to say the other big banks have been sluggish is an understatement”.

However, some are concerned that the new system could throw up fraud problems, pointing out that banks currently keep paper copies of cheques so that they can be checked for authenticity if required.

Legal experts said it could mean “the bank never gets the paper copy and the customer is encouraged to get rid of it after seven days” adding that there was also a risk of “photos of cheques being manipulated or photoshopped”.

However, they said “the pilot may flush these issues out”.

People who do not want to use the new system will still be able to use cheques in the current way, by post or through a bank branch.

The system is already in place in America, India and China.