CBN threatens to sanction banks over increased cheque rejections

The apex bank noted in a circular titled; Circular on the revised Nigeria Cheque Standard (NCS) and Nigeria Cheque Printers Accreditation Scheme (NICPAS): MICR Rejects, that it released the NCS standard tagged version 2.0 with the aim of increasing the efficiency and security of the Nigeria Clearing System.

According to the statement which was signed by CBN director, banking service department, Sam Okojere, the MICR rejects are cheques rejected due to MICR code line errors.

According to the CBN, the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) will be monitored for compliance in accordance with the apex bank’s circular on the Nigerian cheque standard. The CBN also threatened to sanction any bank that still rejected cheques due to MICR defects from November 1, 2023.

The CBN statement said, “Please note that the bank will monitor compliance with the provision of this circular and any bank with MICR reject starting from November 1, 2023 would be penalised in accordance with the sanctions grid”.

The MICR codeline is a series of numbers and symbols on a cheque specifically used to identify the bank, branch, and account number. The codeline is located at the bottom of a cheque.

The CBN also advised that all DMB’s should get in touch with their personalisers and also endeavour to revalidate the MICR code line details for accuracy in accordance with the NCS and NICPAS version 2.0.

“Furthermore, both the presenting and receiving banks should also thoroughly examine their in-house cheque processing equipment to ensure that they are properly calibrated and supervised”, the CBN added.

This is to enable the reduction of the MICR rejects which have been noticed to be on the increase.