Technical issue disrupts clearing of Singdollar cheques deposited on Dec 12

A TECHNICAL issue arising from the central cheque processing system has impeded the clearing process for Singapore-dollar cheques deposited on Dec 12.

Customers can therefore expect a delay in the crediting and receipt of Singapore-dollar funds on Wednesday (Dec 13), the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) said.

Funds will be credited from 5pm on Wednesday.

The Business Times understands that in the absence of the Dec 12 disruption, funds would typically have been credited by 2 pm on the following working day, depending on individual banks and their cheque-clearing processes.

ABS also warned of potential delays in US dollar-denominated cheques, crediting, and receipt of funds on Dec 13 due to the “individual banks’ system and processes”.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience during this time. Please contact your bank for any queries.”

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The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) last year launched a public consultation along with initiatives to eliminate corporate cheques by 2025. The central bank said then that phasing out corporate cheques would cut down the local cheque transaction volume significantly.

It also aims to eliminate all cheques and terminate central cheque clearing over the medium term.

Following the public consultation, MAS announced in July this year that seven banks in Singapore – DBS, OCBC, UOB, Citibank, Maybank, Standard Chartered and HSBC – had begun charging for the use of Singapore dollar-denominated cheques.

Other banks will do the same by Jul 1, 2024.

All banks will stop issuing new cheque books to corporates in 2025, paving the way for the phasing out of corporate cheques by the end of that year.