Cheque payment security

Tips to protect your business when using cheques

Technology means that cheques can fall victim to fraudsters.

This page will help you understand the risks and what you can do to act more securely.

Add your signposting title here… Who's responsible?

Where a customer is the drawer of a cheque which has not been altered and paid into an account other than that of the intended beneficiary (i.e. Payee), there is no liability on the Bank to pay the cheque / or reimburse the customer, as it has been issued in accordance to the mandate.

Follow our advice below to help protect yourself from loss.

Storing cheques

Keep only the stock you need – cheque designs and layouts change to combat fraudsters – if you have lots of older cheques, you won’t benefit.
Be wary of undelivered cheque books – contact us to make sure we’ve sent them.
Flick through new cheque books to look for any cheques that have been stolen before they got to you.
Make a record of the new cheque books in your usual manner, and store all your cheques in a secure place.
Keep them separate – always store cheques away from your bank mandate.
Regularly make sure that all unused cheques remain in the book.
Want to customise your cheques? All cheque designs need to have strict anti-fraud devices and other industry standards. We’re happy to give you the advice you need.
Only have essential information on your cheques. For example, avoid labelling the signature area with designations such as ‘Director’ and ‘Secretary’. This could give potential fraudsters valuable information about your company’s signing requirements.
Keep your secrets – never print signing instructions on the cheque, such as upper limits.

Reconciling your cheques

Make a date to reconcile – you should really match the frequency of your reconciliation with the amount of cheques you produce. If you issue cheques every day, you should reconcile regularly.
Keep it separate – it’s a good idea for one person to write cheques, and another to reconcile cheques.
Go back to the paperwork – verify all the cheques you’ve written against underlying paperwork, such as invoices. This helps to make sure the cheques have been raised for legitimate purposes.
Audit your cheque stocks – to check for missing cheques and other anomalies.
Be wary of late presentation – if a cheque hasn’t been presented after a reasonable time, you need to find out why. It’s also worth remembering that a missing cheque could have been stolen and paid into a fraudster’s account. At the same time, a cheque that is presented later than expected may have been ‘borrowed’ and the information taken for use in a future fraud.
If a cheque is overdue for presentation, talk to the payee, check if it was received and put a stop on the cheque if you have to.

If you need to issue a large number of cheques, there are reconciliation services which can reduce the burden on your business. Simply speak to your relationship manager.

Alternative payment methods

Electronic payments can provide a safer and more effective way to manage your money.

Learn more about electronic payments

Bankline services

If you are a business making large payments regularly, you could benefit from signing up to our Bankline service.

Learn more about Bankline

Add your signposting title here… Need to report fraud

If you think you've been a victim of fraud, we are here to help.

Report fraud to us

Cheque payment security

Share it now