Soon, the era of cheques would be put to an end as British academics have claimed of having developed an electronic cheque which would do away the unnecessary costs and time consuming procedures of traditional cheques.

It has been informed that the electronic cheque thus created by the academics looks just like an ordinary cheque. However, the difference is that the cheque is filled by using a special kind of pen which has been provided with a small camera on its tip.

The small camera attached on the tip of the pen records stroke made against millions of tiny dots printed on the surface of the cheque. The information about the transaction is sent to the respective banks of the users through wireless link.

Now, the question rises over the safety of the usage of the pen. It has been informed that the cheque and the pen can't be used by a thief of mischievous person as they can be used only with the user's own secure computer hub. In the absence of the user's own secure computer hub, the electronic cheque can't perform the desired function.

Researcher Dr. John Vines said, "The beauty is that it is a safe and cheap electronic transaction for banks, but it's a physical paper-based transaction for the customer". The work of the York, Newcastle and Northumbria universities' researchers would be presented today at Computer Supported Co-operative Work, to be held in the US.

However, before the electronic cheque is introduced in the market it would be necessary to gain the consent of the banks. At present, it costs £80 to buy a digital pen. However, it is believed that with the introduction of electronic cheque the price of digital pen would fell sharply.