centralised cheque clearing altogether in the UK and had set a target date of 31 October 2018. However, on 12 July 2011, the Payments Council announced that after opposition from MPs, charity groups and public opinion, the cheque will remain in use and there would no longer be a reason to seek an alternative paper-initiated payment. Since 2001, businesses in the United Kingdom have made more electronic payments than cheque payments. Automated payments rose from 753 million in 1995 to 1.1 billion in 2001 and cheques declined in that same period of time from 1.14 to 1.1 billion payments. Most utilities in the United Kingdom charge lower prices to customers who pay by direct debit than for other payment methods, including electronic methods. The vast majority of retailers in the United Kingdom have not accepted cheques as a means of payment for several years, and cheque guarantee cards are no longer issued. For example, Shell announced in September 2005 that it would no longer accept cheques at their UK petrol stations. This was soon followed by other major fuel retailers, such as Texaco, BP, and Total. Asda announced in April 2006 that it would stop accepting cheques, initially as a trial in the London area, and Boots announced in September 2006 that it would stop accepting cheques, initially as a trial in Sussex and Surrey. Currys (and other stores in the DSGi group) and WH Smith also no longer accept cheques. Cheques are now widely predicted to become a thing of the past, or at most, a niche product used to pay private individuals or for the very large number of small service providers who are not willing to provide their bank details to customers to allow electronic payments to be made to them or do not wish to be burdened with checking their bank accounts frequently and reconciling them with amounts due (for example, music teachers, driving instructors, children's sports lessons, small shops, schools). The UK Payments Council announced in December 2009 that cheques would be phased out by October 2018, but only if adequate alternatives were developed. They intended to perform annual checks on the progress of other payments systems and a final review of the decision would have been held in 2016. Concerns were expressed, however, by charities and older people; who are the main users of cheques, and replacement plans were criticised as being open to