Cheque clearing
Faster clearance and access to funds
Despite the popularity of electronic banking, more than five million cheques are still used every day in the UK.
The UK banking industry has therefore made improvements to the cheque clearing system to make it more understandable and provide greater certainty. These changes came into force at the end of November 2007.
New timetable for cheque clearing
These improvements have introduced maximum time limits for cheque clearing, when interest is paid, and when customers can withdraw money from their accounts.
Certainty of payment
Certainty of payment - an entirely new feature - has been introduced. Customers can now be sure that following a maximum of seven working days after the date of credit on their statement, the money will be theirs.
Customer protection
Customers are protected from any loss if a valid cheque is returned unpaid and money cannot be reclaimed from their account after these seven days have elapsed. This is known as Certainty of Fate.
For more information about these changes, download the cheque clearing factsheet (PDF, 160KB)
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