A Winnipeg-based company is hoping to make Manitoba the electronic bill paying capital of Canada.
Bill Loewen, founder and chairman of Telpay, a provider of e-payment systems, says the cheque is on life support and could be eliminated entirely for both business and personal transactions by 2020.
He says this is one of the rare times when consumers' habits are leading those of business.
As soon as companies realize that writing paper cheques to pay suppliers and service providers is costing them both time and money, he's confident they'll move away from the centuries-old payment method.
E-payment systems typically cost 50 cents per transaction compared with $2 for paper cheques. The former can also be completed in 24 hours while the latter usually takes three to five days, Loewen said. There are 500 million cheques issued in Canada each year.
from Western Investor October 2011
