Goodbyes are never easy. As of 31 December 2020 we will no longer issue, encash, deposit or collect cheques. Due to the high incidence of fraud and theft related to cheques, coupled with South Africans opting for the convenience and safety of digital payments over the past years, Absa, along with other major banks is discontinuing cheques as a payment method.
How will this impact me?
- There will be no changes to your cheque account, account number or terms and conditions of your account – this will only impact physical cheques and cheque book issuing, and transactions.
- You can cash and deposit cheques until 31 December 2020. No cheques will be accepted at any of our branches or cash centres after this date regardless of the date it was issued.
- Only cheques banked and dated before 1 January 2021 will be honoured and processed.
- Start making use of our alternative payment solutions and do not accept cheques as payments from 01 January 2021, for example, online banking, card payments and electronic funds transfer (EFT).
- We no longer issue bank guaranteed cheques
- Special clearances of cheques will no longer be allowed, the standard 10 day period will apply.
- The 6 month cheque validity rule will fall away.
- No cheques in excess of R50 000 will be accepted as per regulatory requirements
What you need to know about cheque discontinuation
Alternative payment options that you can use
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