How CBN’s suspension of cheque clearing will affect your business
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that it has temporarily suspended the clearing of cheque in the Nigerian Clearing System from today (Tuesday March 31).
A statement by CBN’s Director of Banking Services Department, Sam Okojere, said the suspension is in line with the lockdown order placed on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Lagos and Ogun states by President Muhammadu Buhari during his statewide broadcast on Sunday evening.
“In view of the Bank’s effort to ensure hitch free clearing and settlement activities, the Central Bank of Nigeria hereby suspend, until further notice, the clearing of cheques instruments in the Nigerian Clearing System, starting from March 31, 2020,” the statement said.
“For avoidance of doubt, no fresh cheque instrument will be allowed to pass through clearing system on march 31, 2020. Only returned cheque would be treated on the said date.”
What the directive means is that cheque payment will not be successful during the period of the lockdown until further notice because the clearing system is on suspension.
“Cheques that go through clearing system are inter-bank cheques. These types of cheques are mostly issued for business transactions. For instance, if you’re a businessman who banks with Access Bank, a customer gives you a First Bank cheque and you want to pay it directly into your Access Bank account since you don’t have a First Bank account, this directive will affect you,” Rasheed Akindiya a banker with one of the leading new generation banks in Nigeria told Neusroom.
“The cheque you can cash over the counter without an ID card or an account with the paying bank is N150,000, that’s the limit. So if you are given a First Bank cheque and you want to deposit it into your Access Bank account, once you deposit it today, the cheque goes on clearing. Though it will reflect on your account balance, that same day, that the money has been paid, but it will only reflect on ledger balance not available balance.”
He further explained:
“Take for instance, a customer gives you a cheque of N400,000, your ledger balance will indicate that your account has been credited with N400,000, but it will not reflect on your available balance. The following day, at the close of business for the day, you will get value for the cheque.
“Not that CBN has suspended clearing, anyone who wants to do any transaction now, it is advisable to ask for transfer instead of cheque payment,” Akindiya advised.
As a business person, you should avoid cheques as a means of payment until the lockdown is over and the suspension is lifted.
