The national payment system will no longer accept checks as payment.
Payments Association of South Africa (PASA), Banking Association of South Africa (BASA), Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) are notifying the public that the issuance and acceptance/collection of checks will end as of December 31, 2020, in accordance with the notice posted at http://www.resbank.co.za/RegulationAndSupervision/NationalPaymentSystem(NPS)/Legal/Pages/Information%20papers.aspx
Due to the multiple difficulties involved in using checks, this choice was made. These difficulties include:
The impact of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) outbreak, a lengthy processing period, fraud committed through the writing of checks, checks’ limited adoption, insufficient consumer education and protection, and ageing interbank check processing infrastructure are all contributing factors.
The consultation document “The phasing down of checks in the national payment system,” published on October 2, 2020, provides details. Visit http://www.resbank.co.za/RegulationAndSupervision/NationalPaymentSystem(NPS)/Legal/Pages/Documents-for-Comment.aspx to access the consultation paper.
In this regard, after December 31, 2020, no checks will be accepted for deposit or encashment by South African banks.
Banks are required to keep in close contact with their customers both before and after the end of checks. additionally to inform their clients of more electronic payment options.
Therefore, after December 31, 2020, affected stakeholders are asked not to write, draw, or accept checks. They are urged to get in touch with their banks to ask about other electronic payment options or to convey any questions they may have about the procedure for ceasing to use checks.
