Corporate cheques will no longer be accepted in Singapore by the end of 2025, but they will still be usable for “a period” after that. An electronic system that enables consumers to make a deferred payment or issue a cashiers’ order will be developed in order to facilitate the changeover.
In Singapore, the number of annual corporate cheques transactions has decreased by about 70% from 61 million in 2016 to fewer than 19 million in 2022, as both businesses and consumers increasingly use e-payments.
The price of processing each check has gone up as a result. Therefore, starting in November, banks will start charging both businesses and people for checks denominated in Singapore Dollars.
As an alternative to post-dated checks, the Monetary Authority of Singapore has given banks the task of developing an electronic deferred payment system that uses already-existing payment methods like PayNow and Giro.
After this goes into effect in 2025, banks will no longer issue new checkbooks to any corporate clients.
After this, people will still be allowed to use checks, and a consultation on when to make the cutoff and end the cheque truncation system is scheduled for the following year.
