New Check-Processing System Postponed

EghtesadOnline: The Central Bank of Iran has delayed until September the implementation of a new scheme to streamline its check-processing system to give banks more time to adapt, a central bank official said.

News ID: ۷۸۲۵۱۰

07 May 2018

Dubbed “Sayyad”, the new system is aimed at improving the security features of checks and add a two-dimensional barcode containing much of the relevant data. Under a schedule previously announced by CBI, the plan should have come into force by May 4. “But given the vast scope of the Sayyad initiative, that deadline was extended to give the banks time to align themselves with the new system and complete the necessary measures and fully withdraw the pile of old checks already in circulation,” Masoud Rahimi, the bank’s head of Banknote Issuance Office, said in an interview with CBI’s website published on Sunday. “As of Sept. 22, the post-dated checks can only be processed at the branches of the issuing bank.” The new system involves an option to run a credibility check on an account holder that intends to write a check. It also makes it possible to deposit a check into an account by simply scanning it at ATMs, according to Financial Tribune.