Banks brace for dealing in new cheques

UAE banks will turn down any old cheque signed after the end of March as part of new rules on the enforcement of more secure cheques to be fully enforced by the end of this year, the semi official daily Al Ittihad said on Saturday.

The country’s 51 banks have already stopped issuing old cheque books for its clients and are replacing existing books with new ones that are compatible with those defined by the Central Bank, the Arabic language daily said.

Quoting bankers, it said all banks would reject any cheque after December 31 if it does not conform to the new specifications set by the Central Bank.

“The banks will also turn down old cheques signed by clients after the end of March 2010.…those who have post-dated old cheques due for cashing in January 2011 will require a statement from the issuer asking the management for exemption from the new specifications,” the report said.

It quoted Rashid Mahboub, Head of Branches at Dubai Islamic Bank, as saying DIB had already issued new secure cheque books for its customers.

He said the new cheques are fully compatible with the specifications set by the Central Bank, adding that the Bank had staged a three-month training course for its staff members on the identification of such cheques.

In its circular to banks in late 2009, the Central Bank asked them to switch to the new money tools in a bid to prevent fraud and set a deadline at the end of 2010.

The circular also told the banks to ensure that the new cheques to be issued are Thermo-chromic Sensitive and Chemical Sensitive.

While being thermo chromic sensitive will prevent fraudsters from using the colour photocopy of cheques to cheat unsuspecting people, the chemical sensitivity will render it impossible for anyone to tamper with the signature or remove or alter the content on the cheque leaf.

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