An upgraded real-time system of making payments to individuals, businesses and Government, which will phase out the use of cheques, is now in operation in Barbados.And the Barbados Bankers Association (BBA) has welcomed it as a step in the right direction.Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs Ryan Straughn said that for an extended period, financial institutions across the island had been testing the system, referred to as the Automated Clearing House (ACH), which went into operation on Monday.Addressing the Barbados Labour Party’s (BLP) St Michael West Central branch meeting on Sunday night, he said the system will improve the ease of doing business and has the potential to replace the “time-consuming” process of conducting financial transactions by cheque.“We are scheduled to launch [Monday] and, therefore, in the coming weeks and months you start to see that ‘oh, I could take up my phone and pay whoever, transfer some money to whoever, they confirm that they get it....rather than having to run to the ATM’,” he said.