One-day cheque clearing to be introduced
Melanie May | 23 March 2017 | News
Charities will soon be able to benefit from faster cheque clearing times, with the phased rollout of a new system from 31st October this year that will reduce the waiting period to one weekday.
The Cheque and Credit Clearing Company (C&CCC) is launching an image-based cheque clearing system that will speed up cheque processing significantly, and which will go live in some banks and building societies on this date, with all banks and building societies expected to be using the new system by the second half of 2018.
The system will mean that if a cheque is paid in on a weekday, the recipient will be able to withdraw the funds by 23.59 on the next weekday (excluding bank holidays) at the latest. C&CCC expects many banks and building societies to allow customers to access their funds earlier than this.
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The new process will also mean that when a cheque is paid in, the money will leave the account of the person or business that wrote the cheque to the faster timescale too.
According to C&CCC, using cheque imaging could also mean that some banks and building societies may offer their customers the additional option of paying in an image of the cheque by using a secure mobile banking app on their smartphone or tablet, rather than having to go to a bank branch.
James Radford, chief executive officer of the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company, said:
“These changes will put cheques firmly in the 21st century, delivering real and important benefits for the many individuals, charities and businesses that regularly use cheques. Not only will cheques clear faster but banks and building societies may offer their customers the option of paying in an image of a cheque rather than the paper cheque itself.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.