Bank no longer issues cheques

Here is an update from the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company's August "Cheque Matters" newsletter for those still awake:

In May, industry testing for the new
image clearing system began.

The new system will speed up
cheque processing significantly for
customers across the UK as cheque
clearing times will be reduced from
the current ‘six weekdays’ to the
‘end of the next weekday’.

A number of banks and building
societies will start to roll out the
new image clearing system at the
end of October this year, with all
financial organisations being part
of the new process during the
second half of next year. During
the roll out period, two clearing
systems will operate in parallel,
which means that some cheques
that customers write or pay-in
will be cleared more quickly via
the image system, and some will
clear to the existing six weekday
timescale through the current,
paper-based system. Banks and
building societies will advise their
customers in due course regarding
their own individual roll-out plans.

For customers, the new system will
mean that if they pay in a cheque
on a weekday they will be able
to withdraw the funds by 23.59
on the next weekday (excluding
bank holidays) at the very latest. A
number of organisations are likely
to allow their customers to access
their funds even earlier than this.

Customers will still write cheques as
they do today and give them or
post them to recipients in exactly
the same way that they always
have. Cheque recipients will also
still be able to pay in cheques in
the normal variety of ways, and
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 their bank to
pay the cheque in. Additionally,
banks might provide their business
and charity customers with desktop
scanners linked to their online bank
account, allowing them to pay in
any cheques that they receive as
digital images.