New check designs deferred to May 2024

The Philippine Clearing House Corporation (PCHC) has announced that the implementation of the New Check Design Standards and Specifications would be deferred to May 1, 2024.

"This deferment in implementation is effected with a view to allowing more time for bank clients to exhaust remaining checks or base stocks of printed checks in their possession," the PCHC said in a memorandum circular obtained by GMA News Online on Friday.

The PCHC's first circular on the new check design standards include the standard issue date format, which is month-day-year. It also noted that the date format guide is indicated below the date line.

Further, an individual box is provided for each character of the issue date while the peso sign is moved out of the box.

There are also boxed white spaces for writing the date of issue, amount in figures, and signature of the issuer or drawer.

According to the PCHC, these changes intend to set a uniform format writing of date in the checks to avoid misinterpretation and enhance check processing capabilities by providing banks with better optical character recognition features.—AOL, GMA Integrated News