Faster local cheque clearing ‘soon come’
(CNS): Three years after the six local high-street banks entered into an arrangement to make moving money between them quicker and easier, the next phase in the project, which will enable faster cheque clearance, will be completed before the end of the year. In the past a cheque cut on an account from one bank and placed into an account at another could take several weeks to clear. The hope now is that all cheques, regardless of where they are cut and paid in, will be cleared in days.
A new type of chequing system has been introduced to facilitate this speedier clearance between the participating banks, according to Prism (Cayman) Limited, the firm that created the Cayman Islands Automated Clearing House (CIACH) network on behalf of the six banks involved.
Cheques from Butterfield, Cayman National, Fidelity, FirstCaribbean, RBC and Scotiabank will all clear through the Automated Clearing House, which also began the inter-bank electronic transfer system in 2018. While that service allows a same day direct domestic payment, officials have not said exactly how long cheques under the new system will now take to clear.
The banks said that the new Cheque Image Exchange product will modernise the local clearing process and support “the introduction of reduced hold periods on local interbank cheque clearance”. While they said the new exchange project is well advanced, “with a live launch projected in late 2020”, no specified date has been revealed.
CNS has sent questions to Prism and we are awaiting a response.
An Automated Clearing House (ACH) is a payment network that allows the electronic exchange and settlement of cheques, direct transfer payments and payment-related information between participating banks. The electronic data interchange is governed by strict rules and agreements between participating banks and the central ACH Operator, which ensure the safe and secure exchange of information.
For more details visit the Cayman Islands Bankers’ Association website.
Customers can also talk directly with their banks.
Category: Banking & money, Business
Yesterday’s technology, today.
Great slogan, any local bank, feel free to use it.
Who in the world still uses cheques?
me… lol
Me too…try going to get a gallon of paint from Cayman Coatings without your check book.
The majority of businesses in Cayman.
OMG really? How can this be news? Why is it that in a country that is supposed to be at the forefront of international banking, that if I want to pay my rent to my landlord, I have to drive to the ATM, withdraw cash and then queue up to pay it into his account? I should be able to simply transfer it online from my bank account to his instantly with the click of a button. And for free.
CNS: You have been able to transfer funds from your account to your landlord’s account via online banking, whichever banks you both use in the Cayman Islands, since 2018. No driving, no ATMs.
Thanks CNS for informing this person. Maybe the landlords should be insisting on e-payments.
Just a $2 fee for the service
which used to be $7 – the only thing in Cayman that has ever gone down
Except for garbage fees, oh and book fees.
Not to or from Credit Union.
By the way, the actual answer to his question is that these “landlords “ are trying to protect their unchecked side hustles. Bank accounts leave a trail.
Credit Union is not a bank. The system is for electronic inter-bank payments. CU should be able to accept such payments into their ‘bank’ account as long as the remitter can be clearly identified so that CU can correctly credit that person in their system.
You can also pay the Credit Union using Cayman ACH Domestic transfers. Check their website for their clearing bank arrangement.
The local banks are not at the forefront of anything.
They’re on the cutting edge of improbable charges and fees.
The banks have been ripping us of for years and they are still dragging their feet.
No reason at all why a local cheque should tie up to 5 days to clear. Just a way for the banks to make money..
Disgrace.
Welcome to the 21st Century!
Why are folks still writing cheques anyway? All businesses & government should be accepting electronic payments direct to their accounts. The cost of a cheque to both the writer & the receiver should make these a thing of the past very quickly.
I won’t pay Butterfield $3 to process my small payments of less than $25 (Blu water for example) so I write a cheque.
Even in States, some businesses charge for processing an online payment. Condo dues for example. If one sends a check there’s no charge. Checks are cheaper than 12 monthly fees for paying online.
As for depositing checks it is instant via bank’s mobile apps. So yes, Cayman is 20 years behind.
Florida DMV: all online payment transactions will include a non-refundable $2.00 convenience fee.
Thought it was $2. The purchase cost of the cheque plus the transaction cost when it debits your account probably adds up to at least $2. So not saving much. Eventually the vendor will stop accepting your cheque since it is a pain in the ___ for them.
p.s. – why are you buying filtered water in a large plastic bottle at inflated cost instead of buying a filter for a tap in your home.
You new here? You couldn’t pay me any amount of money to drink Cayman tap water without it being filtered 27 times… (I’d explain why but CNS won’t post opinions that name names)
I know Flowers and Blu is merely filtered tap water but I trust that their process is better than a $15 filter on my tap. Tastes a lot better too.
And when did we get a “high-street”?? LMFAO Posh now ain’t we.
Not new here at all. Family came in the 1600’s.
Dream on. $40 filter gives me 2500+ gallons of water. Just as good as the delivered plastic bottle water.
Do not understand the “high street” reference.
I don’t have a chq account, but might consider doing so after being ripped off on small payments. Whats the fee pr chq?
Look it up on the web site for your bank.
Welcome to 1988
Welcome to 1975.