The final nail is almost in the coffin for the once mighty cheque-book. Following the lead given by other retailers, Tesco has announced that it is set to ban personal cheques from all its stores. The UK’s largest supermarket will stop accepting cheques in all of its 2000 shops from February 25. Previously the company had banned cheques in its smaller stores to test customer reaction.

Tesco says phasing out cheques will result in quicker service at the check-out and better security for its customers. Already Marks & Spencer have announced they will not be accepting cheques from March 1 claiming cheques now account for less than 2% of their UK transactions.

M&S though will still continue to accept cheques in store via special boxes for their credit card customers wishing to pay their bills.

Tesco and M&S are just the latest in a long line of major UK retailers who have already stopped accepting cheques. Asda, Argos, Boots, Debenhams, Next, Sainsbury's and WH Smith are now cheque free shops.

In 2006, 1778 million cheques were issued in the UK compared to 3091 million just 10 years ago. The figure is declining year on year as shoppers use debit and credit cards more and more for their shopping. The advent of Tap & Go payment systems for small transactions and payment readers incorporated into mobile phones will only bring about the demise of cheques even sooner.