February 02, 2017

Banks in PH now process checks electronically

According to a report by Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas, electronic clearing of checks started on January 20, 2017 as approved by the Monetary Board.

ADVISORY-on-CICS.011717 Image grabbed from pchc.com.ph

With this, Philippine Clearing House Corporation (PCHC)—the BSP-designated exclusive provider of electronic check clearing services—will use the “Check Image Clearing System (CICS)” to process the checks.

This new system targets to speed up the crediting of funds to depositors’ account to only one banking day from the usual three to five banking-day process.

Based on the advisory posted by PCHC, depositors who transact with CICS compliant banks/branches may now withdraw on the next banking day against their validated check deposits.

The following banks are CICS Compliant/Ready as of January 31, 2017:

banks Image grabbed from pchc.com.ph

Meanwhile, banks/branches that are still on paper-based check processing will continue to render the service under existing timelines. The public is advised to check with their bank/branch regarding funds availability.

In preparing checks under CICS, the public is reminded to:

make sure that check being issued is sufficiently funded
use dark-colored ink; do not use pencil, erasable ink or correction ribbon
write legibly and ensure that all required information are clear and complete
make no erasures/alterations in any of the information as checks with alteration are not acceptable for clearing even if the erasure or alteration is countersigned
left-justify when writing on the spaces; rule out empty spaces
end the amount in words with “Only”; do not leave big spaces
make sure authorized signatories are updated with the bank
avoid stapling, crumpling, folding, pinning or binding checks
review immediately monthly bank statements. Checks that are honored will no longer be sent with bank statements; only digital copies of honored checks will be provided. Physical checks(paid) will be kept by the banks for 180 days only

Source: Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas, pchc.com.ph