Standard Bank will stop the issuing of cheques as of December 2020 following the various limit reductions introduced by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), the continued reduction of cheque usage during the Covid-19 lockdown period as well as the adoption of digital and cheaper alternatives by its clients.
Cheque books are seldom seen in society today, with the convenience of contactless cards taking over the payments space. Historically, clients would have been able to pay up to R5 million using a cheque, the bank said. However, this limit has reduced over time driven by overall usage. The last limit reduction came into effect on 1 May 2020, which now only allows for payments of up to R50,000. A combination of our new and existing payments solutions will enable our cheque clients to transition to digital payments that are more secure and cost effective