We use Chip and PIN in the UK too - have done for yonks. Can't recall the last time I had to sign. We also have Contactless (it has magically become a noun) which our bank limits to 30GBP.
The only warning we've had is not to keep the card in a wallet when using it if you have more than one contactless card - you may find the payment has been taken from more than one account
Most large and medium-size businesses here no longer take cheques. Last time I did have to use a cheque, a year or so ago, the previous one in the book was dated 2007!
Small traders like plumbers and maintenance people generally ask for payment by
BACS, which means we pay online and they don't have to carry cash or cheques to their bank.
It also allows us to move money from, for example, a savings account to a current account with a different bank. And it arrives within a couple of hours and sometimes a couple of minutes. On one occasion we made the payment while he was still in the house and he used his iPhone to confirm he'd got it - before he went out of the door.
We use electronic payment more and more too - there is a daily limit of $3000 on it though, and a weekly limit of $7000 (if I recall). So it's useful, but when you're paying contractors large sums, it may still require a cheque. When a postal strike was threatened recently, I called our accountant's office to ask if they took e-payment and was surprised that the answer was "no - please mail the cheque." Practically every other professional I've dealt with lately has offered it, and I am quite happy if people want to pay me that way.
NO stores take cheques in Canada - haven't done so for years. I remember being surprised when we moved to the US in 1991 that stores would take cheques, so it's been that way for a long time here.
