New Bank cheque book to get expiry date, security features

Deposit money banks are planning to introduce new cheque books with new digits on the Magnetic Ink Character Recognition code line and expiry dates effective from January 1, 2021.

In their notes to customers, some of the banks said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had approved a new cheque standard to fully take effect from 2021.

“All cheque books will now have expiry dates. “A cheque digit has now been introduced on the MICR code line,” one of the banks sent to customers.

The bank advised its customers all over the country to pick up their new cheque books at all its branches nationwide.

In its recently released “Monetary, credit, foreign trade and exchange policy guidelines for fiscal years 2020/2021,” the CBN stated that it was ensuring an enabling environment for efficient cheque processing and other paper-based payments instruments, through complete application of new and already adopted technologies.

The regulatory bank said it had approved the revised Nigeria Cheque Standards and Nigeria Cheque Printers Accreditation Scheme, to improve the safety and efficiency of the clearing system.

“Notable changes in the revised standards include introduction of Quick Response Code for faster verification of cheque details, expiry date of printed cheque booklet and clear zone at the back of the cheque.

It said that it would continue to conduct annual accreditation of the Nigeria cheque printers and cheque personalizers, in line with the provisions of the revised NICPAS.

It stated that it would continue to improve the clearing infrastructure to increase the efficiency of the system. “The cheque truncation system shall continue to be used for the exchange of images of the instruments and Magnetic Ink Character Recognition,” it added.

“The cheque clearing cycle remains T+1 and maximum cap on cheque at N10 million.