The UK's Payments Council has released the first national payments plan that includes proposals for the decline of paper-based cheques and the development of a "bank account to bank account mobile payment service".

The National Payments Plan includes statements of principle, specific actions and reviews of key issues. The document deals with current payment methods including plastic cards, cash and cheques and also reviews innovative payments methods, fraud and security and consumer education about payments.

The decline of the cheque was one of the most discussed points during the consultation. According to studies conducted by UK payments association Apacs, nearly 1.6 billion cheque-based payments were made in 2007, dropping by 9.3 percent from 2006 and total value of cheque payments declined by 1.3 percent. This is the fastest rate of decline registered since 1991. An increasing number of retailers in the UK have stopped accepting cheques for payments. The Council intends to manage the decline and to eventually eliminate cheques as a payment method.

Direct debits are considered an important and valuable payment method, but there is still room for improvement. In tjhis respect, the Council has proposed the introduction of a one-off direct debit, a limit on the length of the guarantee and the development of a business-to-business direct debit product.

Other priority areas for the Council include improvements to the direct debit system, standardisation of account number formats, standards, financial inclusion and supply chain automation.

The Payments Council is an independent body for payments in UK which was set up in March 2007 to ensure that UK payment systems and services meet the needs of users, payment service providers and the economy.