Bounced checks in the third calendar month (ended June 21) reached of 374 trillion rials ($1.2 billion) up 9.5% monthly.
A total of 640,000 checks were rejected by banks in the month, indicating 4.6% increase, the Central Bank of Iran said.
Bounced checks accounted for 9.5% of the total number of checks and 10.9% of the value of checks drawn during the period.
That was seemingly an improvement on the month before, when 9.8% and 12.4% of checks bounced in volume and value terms, respectively.
In the reviewed period, about 188,000 checks worth 161 trillion rials ($520m) bounced in Tehran Province, accounting for 8.7% and 9.1% of the volume and value of drawn checks in the capital.
The ratio of bad checks to transacted checks in North Khorasan Province was 13.3%, the highest among all provinces.
Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province was second with a ratio of 12.5% and Lorestan third with 12.4%.
Provinces with the lowest ratio were Gilan at 6.7%, Khuzestan 8.1% and Alborz 8.4%.
Insufficient funds in the accounts of issuers were the main reason why the checks were rejected.
According to CBI data, drawn checks rose 7.7% in volume terms to reach 6.8 million in one month.
The overall value of drawn checks was 3,424 trillion rials ($11 billion), up 24.9% monthly. More than 2.2 million checks worth 1,771 trillion rials ($5.7b) changed hands in Tehran Province during the month.
Tehran was first with the highest share of exchanged checks in volume and value, accounting for 31.9% and 51.7% of all drawn checks.
Isfahan Province was next both in volume and value, representing 10.8% of all drawn checks and 6.8% of the value of checks.
The data does not include checks circulated within branches of a single bank and covers only interbank checks processed by Chekavak, a CBI-affiliated electronic check processing system.
More than 463,000 cashier checks worth 2,909 trillion rials ($9.3b) were processed by banks, 13.8% higher in volume and up 18.3% in value.
More than 157,000 checks worth 2,186 trillion rials were cashed in Tehran.
A cashier's check is a check guaranteed by a bank, drawn on the bank's own funds and signed by a cashier. Cashier's checks are treated as guaranteed funds because the bank, rather than the purchaser, is responsible for paying the amount.
