The death knell has sounded for the eurocheque with the withdrawal of its guarantee from eurocards at the end of 2001. Although that date is less than 2 1/2 years away, Irish holidaymakers are finding this payment option is being phased out in some countries and not accepted in others.
Mr W from Wicklow tells Family Money that his recent trip to France was almost a disaster because he was relying mainly on eurocheques and eurocards purchased from Ulster Bank.
On his return he wrote to the bank saying he had spent £21 (€26.6) in card charges since the beginning of 1995 and "I found that none of the seven major French banks I approached would cash eurocheques, and all offered me their opinion that no other bank will handle these cheques any longer".
He also said his service card did not work in any of the French banks and "had it not been for my wife's cash card (issued by your parent NatWest) we would have been penniless in France".
Although Ulster Bank refunded his eurocard charges, Mr W feels this is scant consolation or recompense for the inconvenience. He believes the eurocheque is no longer acceptable in some other European countries.
At the very least, the banks should advise their customers "that the eurocard can be used in some ATM machines abroad, even though the cheques, which the card is paradoxically issued to guarantee are completely useless".
To his astonishment, the bank continues actively to promote the cheques at ATMs and on customer statements.
"Increasingly the issuing banks have been saying that eurocheques remain a good product but because of the differences which have developed in other European countries, it's better to use your card and pin number in an ATM machine," says the Irish Bankers' Federation's, Mr Felix O'Regan.
Figures for the number of eurocheque transactions undertaken by the Irish abroad and visitors to Ireland show a significant decrease in use over the past few years. In 1998, almost 209,000 transactions worth £27 million were processed compared to 525,000 in 1991 valued at £62 million.
"This is almost a halving of the earlier figure for eurocheque transactions, or of paper being processed. The downward trend has been offset by the number of eurocard transactions," says Mr O'Regan.
The use of the eurocard abroad by Irish people increased from 100,000 in 1995-1996 to 130,000 in 1997-1998, he said.
Some countries including France, Italy and some of the Nordic countries have been more proactive in moving customers away from paper-based to electronic transactions because it is more cost effective, he said.
Restrictions and limitations are highlighted country by country in most banks' eurocheque/eurocard literature or at the point of sale. "The important thing is that at some point customers are made aware of the difficulties they may encounter in this regard," says Mr O'Regan.
A spokeswoman for Ulster Bank said: "Our figures show that while there is still demand amongst our customers, usage of eurocheques has been declining in recent years as other payments are made available particularly Mastercard and Visa."
The bank says it warns customers which countries do not, or are unlikely to, accept eurocheques/eurocheque cards. "All eurocheque users are sent a copy of the eurocheque customer information leaflet that contains information on how and where to use your card."
The brochure specifically says "Please note that increasingly some banks, especially in France and Italy, restrict eurocheque encashment and refer eurocheque users to local ATM machines."
Ulster Bank says it is unaware of complaints from customers regarding acceptability of the eurocheque and eurocard. However, with the introduction of the euro, the scheme is under review.
The other main banks in Ireland say France has been a problem for some time. AIB doesn't promote the cards but facilitates customers if they ask for the product. A spokesman from the Bank of Ireland said: "We wouldn't be telling people to take that as their sole means of cash. We always give the advice that they must take a combination of payment options."
NIB says eurocheques are used by approximately 5,000 of its customers and they are warned at point of sale, both verbally and in written form, that they may not be accepted in some countries.
It is likely that the whole eurocheque/card scheme will be phased out before the card guarantees are withdrawn thereby making the cheques useless.
Since most cash or credit cards use the Cirrus system, which is accepted at more than 400,000 outlets worldwide, the eurocard is also likely to say its final farewell.
