Banks to stop accepting old cheque book from Thursday

Starting from tomorrow, Thursday 1, April the old cheque book will no longer be accepted at the clearing house in line with the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN)’s circular, last year, to Deposit Money Banks(DMBs) in the country.

CBN had in January extended the full implementation of the newly revised cheque book.

Sam Okojere, Director, Banking Services Department, in a circular posted on the CBN website, dated Dec. 9, 2020, referenced BKS/DIR/CIR/GEN/02/042 on the subject, the parallel run, in which old and new cheques are allowed to co-exist, will end on 31st March 2021, and thus only new cheques would be allowed in the clearing system from 1st April 2021.

“Full enforcement of the second edition of the Nigeria Cheque Standard (NCS) and Nigeria Cheque Printers Accreditation Scheme (NICPAS) Version 2.0 will commence April 1, 2021, and the NCS/NICPAS 2.0. The sanction grid will be fully operational on April 1, 2021.

“All deposit money banks are (therefore) directed to actively enlighten their customers and ensure necessary provisions are put in place for a smooth migration to the New standard.

Already on Wednesday morning, deposit Money Banks have started to notify their customers that they will no longer accept the old cheque book while urging customers to requestfor the revised cheque books.

One of the banks, Ecobank, disclosed this to its customers through an email, entitled ‘CBN circular on new cheque design.’

In the email, it told customers, “We wish to remind you that effective 1st April 2021, the old standard cheque books would no longer be accepted through the cheque clearing system, while same will only be acceptable for In-branch transaction processing only.”

“This is further to the revised Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) circular on implementing the requirements of the Nigerian Cheque Standards (NCS) and the Nigerian Cheque Printers Accreditation Scheme (NICPAS) dated 28th February, 2019.”

“While we advise that you kindly request for the new cheque book (if you are yet to do so) before the cutoff date of 31st March 2021, we also encourage you to use our other digital channels (Ecobank Online, Mobile App, USSD and Debit Card) so you can continue to seamlessly carry out your transactions.”