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They've certainly lasted long enough, but every so often you find something that's easier for you by cheque in a given instance

I haven't written a cheque for over 8 years!

You don't even get a cheque book in Germany, if you want a cheque, you have to go to the bank and ask for one to be printed up for you!

Charities etc. just send out pre-printed credit transfer forms, all you need to do is put in the amount, sort code and your account number and hand it in - or use on-line banking.

I used to use loads as a student, but now retailers (ie take away delivery services) have mobile card readers, that isn't an issue any more.
The problem I see is for large items. eg I bought my car by handing over a bankers draft (same thing as a cheque). That saves them quite a fee that a card transaction would have cost them, which they would have passed on to me in the form of a higher price. Okay, these days there's BACS internet transfer, but they still take several days. If they want to get rid of cheques, then they must force banks to make BACS transfers instant. Banks will resist of course as they make money on it during the two or three days it currently takes to transfer the cash.

I think it would be a good thing, as long as fees using cards were dropped. How can anything automatic cost more than something that almost certainly requires human effort.

A bankers draft is a little different than a cheque... For a start, you have to go to the bank to collect it and they take your money out of the account directly...

I know. But my point was that it's processed in exactly the same way. If you got rid of the facilities to process cheques, bankers drafts would have to go too.

Strangely, I'm still using cheques for courses. You send the cheque along with the application form and if they accept your application, they cash the cheque. On the other hand if there are no places, they return it. How would they do this online?

Also both my council tax refund and my deposit have been returned to me via cheque. How would these scenarios now work?

Here, if you get accepted, they send you a transfer form or an invoice and you transfer the money from your account to their's. Here, generally, it is up to the creditor to send out a transfer form with their bank details on and you add your details and hand it in at your local branch or you pay on-line.

Same with buying on-line. I usually buy books through Thalia, because they send an invoice with the book and I have 14 days to transfer the money, once it arrives. With Amazon, I have to have a credit card, if I buy digital content or from the Marketplace.

Given that there is no real advantage to having a credit card, most people don't bother, so the on-line experience has adapted itself.

The reverse is true of cheques, the market adjusted itself quickly to not using cheques - I haven't seen a cheque in the decade I've been visiting/living in Germany.

The ability to do an "instant" (near real time) payment as been available since May 2008 as a result of the Cruickshank Report. All the major high street banks have the service (called Faster Pay, Immediate Payment, Instant Payment) but they don't advertise it for the reasons you mention. Although implementation is deliberately slow the banks are mandated to implement it eventually and fully replace BACS, extending the service to business' and even to individuals.

That's good to know. They should make them do it ASAP.

My bank sent me an email with all the details. Here's a very short excerpt from a rather long email:

We will be making some changes to your terms and
conditions as a result of the new Payment Services
Regulations (the Regulations) that come into force on
1st November 2009. . .

If you or someone else pays money into your account,
either electronically or by cash paid over the counter in
one of our Branches in the UK, that money will be
available for you to use immediately after we receive it.
This does not apply to cheques which are not affected by
these Regulations.

The banks (unsurprisingly) have been doing everything to slow up the process, initially citing budgetary restraints, networking issues, software compatibility problems for not implementing the service and making it available to customers. However, all the major players are up and running now and every bank and building society in the country is capable of offering the service, give it five years and BACS will be pretty much gone, there is an actual deadline for that, but I can't remember what it is.

I think the banks are running to the "when Hell freezes over deadline"

Again, that's good to know.