Microsoft has told customers it will no longer be accepting payment by check as it looks to modernize its accounting systems.
The Register (opens in new tab) uncovered an advisory (opens in new tab) from the computing giant issued to direct-bill partners transacting through its Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program in the US and Canada confirming that it would not accept check payments from the end of this month.
“Effective October 1, 2022, Microsoft will remove the check payment option from new commerce invoices. This change affects only the United States (including Puerto Rico) and Canada,” the advisory states.
No more checks
Microsoft went on to add that all new and prospective partners will be required to send payments to the company via wire transfer or ACH (automated clearing house – also known simply as direct payments) only, and that it would also stop including details on how customers could pay by check on invoices issued from October 1.
The company hasn't said exactly why it's bringing in the changes now, but the use of check payments has been steadily declining in recent years as customers increasingly turn to online methods.
The costs incurred from manually processing checks, as well as the lengthy amount of time they take to transfer from one account to another are also likely motivations for Microsoft to move on to better methods.
The news comes as Microsoft customers are being confronted with price rises across some of its most popular offerings.
In March 2022, the company announced its first “substantive” price increase for Office 365 since launching the software back in 2011, with enterprises set to pay more depending on how many employees they have when they need to renew their subscriptions.
And in April 2022, it also confirmed that the price of its Microsoft 365 suite would be rising for non-profit organizations, with some packages seeing an increase of almost 30%.
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