Banks to charge for use of Singdollar cheques
Singapore has announced plans to do away with paper cheques, starting with corporate cheques by end-2025
Are you still using cheques for your bills or other purchases? If so, you will have to start paying a fee from Nov 1.
The new fee ranges from S$0.75 to S$3 (US$0.55 to US$2.19) for each Singapore dollar-denominated cheque, according to the websites of seven banks as of Friday (Oct 20). These banks are DBS, UOB, OCBC, Citibank, HSBC, Maybank and Standard Chartered.
Fees will also be imposed on US dollar-denominated cheques, starting from US$0.55 to US$3. But the banks will be waiving these charges for individual customers aged 60 and above until Dec 31, 2025.
Banks to start charging customers for Singdollar cheques by Nov 1
The move comes amid falling cheque usage in Singapore and, in turn, higher costs of handling cheques. PHOTO: ST FILE
Seven major banks in Singapore – Citibank, DBS Bank, HSBC, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and UOB – will begin charging individuals for Singapore dollar-denominated cheques by Nov 1. Other banks will do so by July 1, 2024.
Charges for US dollar-denominated cheques will also be implemented in phases, though a DBS spokesman said on Friday that the bank will start implementing charges for SGD-denominated and local USD-denominated cheques for both individuals and companies from Nov 1. This comes amid falling cheque usage in Singapore and, in turn, higher costs of handling cheques, noted the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) on Friday.
Cheque transaction volumes here have fallen sharply – by almost 70 per cent in the past six years, from 61 million in 2016 to less than 19 million in 2022. Correspondingly, the average cost of clearing a cheque has quadrupled since 2016 to 40 cents in 2021. If cheque volumes continue to fall further, that cost is projected to increase to up to $6 by 2025. It is fast becoming unsustainable for banks to continue absorbing these costs, said MAS and ABS.
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