Your proposed system doesn't provide non-repudiation, which is something that paper cheques do provide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-repudiation http://en.

Your proposed system doesn't provide non-repudiation, which is something that paper cheques do provide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-repudiation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-repudiation A suitable XML schema for digitally signed cheques would work though, provided that it was thought out properly. It wouldn't even need live Internet connectivity. However, this still leaves those instances where a computer is not necessarily available.