MUSCAT: At the third meeting of the CBO’s Board of Governors, held on Monday 16th September, 2024, the board affirmed its preparedness to implement the payment system for cheques in the banking sector and urged other concerned authorities to complete their readiness in this respect.
The partial cheque payment system will allow banks to pay out the available funds on a cheque, even if the total amount is not present in the issuer’s account.
Previously, cheques with insufficient funds were automatically rejected, leading to legal trouble for the issuer. Under the new system, the cheque bearer will have the option to accept the partial payment by contacting the drawee bank, which will then process the payment and return the cheque along with a Partial Payment Certificate.
By allowing partial payments, the CBO hopes to reduce the number of dishonoured cheques, which can have serious legal consequences for the issuer. Both parties involved in the transaction will have more flexibility. The payee (recipient) can receive some of the amount owed, while the payer avoids a full-blown bounced cheque situation.
While the new system addresses bounced cheques, the CBO highlights the continued decline in such incidents due to the increasing popularity of digital payment methods.
