IF electronic banking had been invented sooner, then Robin Hood and his Merry Men might not have been quite so merry. The Sheriff of Nottingham going through Sherwood Forest laden down with bulging bags of gold was easy pickings.

It’s a lot trickier when the money is somewhere in a computer system – not so easy to get at that, even with a well-aimed arrow.

No one expects to turn up to pay their bills with a bag of gold coins anymore. Ways of paying bills have changed. But if you pay the wrong way, it’s still easy to get robbed...

Cheques, of course, are on their way out. They’ve just celebrated their 350th birthday, but are unlikely to make it to 400. Last year, automated payments out numbered cheques by nearly five to one. Many under 25s, brought up with debit cards and online banking have possibly never even written a cheque.

Supermarkets and major retailers have stopped taking them for a year or so now, but it was still a surprise to get a notice about the car insurance renewal. “Please do not send cheques or postal orders,” it said.

“We do not accept them.” So there.

You can see the sense of it. Transferring money electronically makes life a lot simpler, cuts down on the paperwork, makes it less likely that cheques will be stolen, lost in the post or down the back of a radiator.

Which means that if you are still paying by cheque then you are probably paying extra for the privilege.

As well as for the stamp to send it.

What’s more, firms not only want us to pay electronically, but increasingly they want us to pay by direct debit – it’s easier for them, plus they are guaranteed to get their money even if you forget all about it. Once you’ve said yes, they can just carry on taking it from your account. Universities like it too. Fed up with students doing a flit, they increasingly ask for fees and accommodation to be paid by direct debit.

Yes, I know it’s not fair. It’s your money and you shouldn’t be penalised by paying in the way you prefer.

And cheques are easy and familiar.

But they probably said that about bags of gold too.

Direct debit is in many ways the ideal way to pay bills – no fuss, no hassle, no chance of forgetting about a bill or being penalised for a late payment. Most loans and credit agreements now insist on direct debit.

It also saves you money, or, rather, not paying by direct debit costs you more.

BT for instance, charge you £4.50 each quarter if you don’t pay by direct debit.

Other phone companies charge even more.

If you pay your gas and electricity bills every quarter when the bill comes in, it’s worth asking how much you could save if you switched to paying monthly by direct debit. It could be as much as 15 per cent – even if you don’t change your supplier.

Sometimes it pays to move with the times. Just ask the Sheriff of Nottingham.