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Cheque imaging and referrals
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Since July, banks have been exchanging digital images of cheques within the UK for clearing and payment. This has significantly reduced the timescales involved, so that a cheque paid into or out of an account will clear at 23.59 the next working day. However, this has also led to an increase in cheque fraud.
Banks are being extra diligent in referring cheques back to us to confirm that the details are correct and a cheque is OK to be paid. We only have limited time to respond to these referrals. This is usually around an hour, but can sometimes be as little as 20 minutes. A member of staff from the MSNC Finance Team will contact a group to confirm the details of a cheque. Barclays will not contact groups directly.
Unfortunately, if we are unable to confirm by the deadline that the cheque is OK to be paid, it may be returned unpaid.
Cheques can be referred for multiple reasons, such as:
o Signature differs
o High value (£50K)
o Not signed in accordance with the mandate
o Words and figures differ
o Alteration requires full signature
It is important that all cheques issued from a group’s account are fully completed and signed by two signatories on the current bank mandate.
We are also seeing an increase in unpaid cheques deposited into accounts due to being incomplete. Please ensure that all cheques paid into your account are fully completed and signed.
Contact: Treasury Support Team
