A cheque can be termed as a dated writing payable on demand that contains an unconditional order for payment of a specific amount of money to the bearer.

Before the bank can act on the request and release the funds, it needs to first undergo a mandatory process referred to as cheque clearing whereby the bank checks for account instructions, signature verification, availability of sufficient funds among other necessities.

On average, it takes around 3 days to access funds from a cheque unless there are instances of unverifiable information, limited funds or delayed submission of the cheque after the deposit date by the drawer’s bank.

However, the cheque’s status can be monitored using interim statements provided by the bank and in circumstances whereby the cheque is not honored, the bank issues a notification via an image return document indicating the reasons for rejection and in few instances, provides an option of presenting the rejected cheque again.

Categories: Banks