Less than two months before enforcing the new check law, the Central Bank of Iran on Wednesday unveiled checkbooks designed to comply with new check transaction rules.
Starkly different from the existing version in terms of hue and design, the new checkbooks will be used from the beginning of the next calendar year on March 20, the CBIs public relations office said.
The checkbook was unveiled by CBI Governor Abdolnasser Hemmati, who asked banks "to be technically prepared" and develop the groundwork. As per the new rules, check transactions must be registered at a special platform named Sayyad if not banks will refuse to clear the checks.
Although registering with Sayyad is not compulsory now, Hemmati recommended bank customers to voluntarily do so to get familiar with the new rules.
Sayyad is a system designed to run a credibility check on account holders wanting to write a check.
"Close to 350 million checks circulate in the country worth an estimated 35,000 trillion rials [$145 billion] a year, which is higher than the total money supply," the senior banker said, underscoring the significance of checks in doing business in Iran.
The new check issuance law was supposed to be enforced on Dec. 21 but was postponed after the regulator said the public was not prepared.
As per the new law passed by parliament in Nov. 2018, the CBI had two years to prepare infrastructure. Lunching electronic checks is an essential component of the new law. Electronic checks are supposed to substitute the conventional paper checks as part of the amendment to the Check Issuance Law.
The new framework is expected to increase transparency and curb rubber and forged checks. The CBI has streamlined electronic check-processing platforms, namely Sayyad and Chekavak, for issuing digital checks.
Chekavak is an electronic check processing system for eliminating the physical circulation of checks and help improve credibility of checks.
Depriving unlawful checkbook-holders the right to loans and other bank financial facilities are also enshrined in the amended law. Access to checkbooks will be difficult and the eligibility and credibility of applicants will be verified.
Rules stipulate tougher measures against defaulters. If a check bounces due to insufficient funds, courts are authorized to seize the amount from other assets of the signatory of the check.
The law also bans checkbook holders from issuing "bearer checks". As the name suggests, bearer checks are payable to the person who brings the check to the bank.
Given the role and significance of checks, rules governing check issuance have been revised seven times, the last in Nov. 2018.
