The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has postponed the deadline for phasing out corporate cheque payments by one year to allow businesses additional time to familiarize themselves with both existing and new e-payment options.
Previously, MAS had announced that corporate cheques would be eliminated, and all banks in Singapore would cease issuing new corporate cheque books in 2025. However, under the revised timeline, banks will stop issuing new cheque books to corporates by December 31, 2025, while the deadline for halting the processing of corporate cheques has been extended to December 31, 2026.
There has been a significant shift towards e-payment methods, accompanied by a decline in cheque usage among both corporates and individuals in Singapore. The volume of SGD cheque transactions has dropped nearly 80%, from 61 million in 2016 to under 14 million in 2023. The share of SGD cheque transaction volume, compared to payments made through Fast and Secure Transfers, Inter-bank Giro, and cheques, has decreased from 32% in 2016 to less than 4% in 2023.
MAS has outlined plans to phase out the current Cheque Truncation System and replace it with a cloud-based solution to accommodate the needs of remaining cheque users, including those utilizing SGD retail cheques, USD corporate and retail cheques, and cashier’s orders.
Meanwhile, the Association of Banks in Singapore is preparing to introduce new Electronic Deferred Payment (EDP) tools in mid-2025 to facilitate the transition to e-payments. These tools, referred to as EDP and EDP+, will cater to scenarios involving post-dated payments and transactions that require greater certainty. Both options will be accessible through digital banking platforms and will utilize the PayNow framework to enable convenient identification of payees during transactions.
While corporate cheques are being phased out, individuals will still be able to use paper forms for some time beyond 2025. MAS has stated that this extension will provide remaining retail cheque users, who may struggle to adopt e-payment solutions, with additional time to transition to alternative payment methods.