Bank of Ireland will no longer cash uncrossed cheques from other branches or banks from Monday. With a few exceptions, all cheques will have to be lodged to the customers' accounts, if they have an account.

Those without a bank account will be able to cash an uncrossed cheque only in the branch from which it was drawn. If that is not possible, they will have to endorse the cheque to someone they know and then withdraw the funds from that person's account. There has been inconsistency in the past, according to a Bank of Ireland spokesman, but this change of policy will put an end to the exercise of discretion at branch level. The move has been presented by Bank of Ireland as a necessary step in complying with accepted European banking practices. The other driving factor, it says, is cutting down branch queueing time and encouraging people to use other forms of banking to the full.

It will still be possible to cash personal cheques with a guarantee card, social welfare cheques, health board cheques and the children's allowance over the counter. But any crossed cheques, any cheques drawn on other Bank of Ireland branches and other banks, and any third-party cheques will have to be lodged in full to an account. They can no longer be partially encashed or used to pay bills. The people most likely to be inconvenienced by this policy are those without a bank account.

So will the Thursday afternoon pay cheque queues become a thing of the past?

Bank of Ireland is encouraging employers who pay their staff by cheque to switch to one of its electronic payment systems.

AIB customers visiting their own branches can still cash a cheque drawn on another AIB branch. AIB also makes provision for "existing and established local arrangements".

An AIB spokesman said that as long as everybody was happy with long-standing arrangements on the ground, they would continue.