The number of bounced checks declined in the last calendar month to Sept.22 but rose in value.
According to data released by the Central Bank of Iran to Sept. 22 as customers failed to cash 709,000 mainly due to insufficient funds.
Compared to the month before, the number of rejected checks dropped 4.4%. More than 686,000 checks worth 302 trillion rials ($1.1 billion) bounced because of non-sufficient funds (NSF).
In value terms, however, bad checks jumped 5% worth 314 trillion rials ($1.16 billion).
Compared to the corresponding month last year, bad checks declined 17.9% in volume but recorded a steep 53.5% rise in value.
Bounced checks accounted for 9.7% of the total number of checks issued and 12.6% of the value of checks drawn in the mentioned period.
In the reviewed period, about 197,000 checks valued at 146 trillion rials ($540.7 million) bounced in Tehran Province, accounting for 9% and 11.5% in volume and value of drawn checks in the capital, respectively.
The ratio of bad checks to transacted checks in Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad Province was 14.9%, the highest in all provinces.
North Khorasan Province was next with a ratio of 13.7%. Kurdistan Province came in third provincially with the highest ratio of bad checks to transacted checks with 13.5%.
Provinces with the lowest ratio were Gilan at 7.1%, Khouzestan at 8.3% and Alborz 8.6%.
Total Checks Drawn
CBI’s data indicate that in terms of volume, the total of checks drawn in the month rose from 6.9 million to 7.3 million to show 5.5% rise monthly.
The overall value of drawn checks reached 2,499 trillion rials ($9.25 billion), registering a 23.5% monthly rise.
Compared to the same month in the last fiscal year, total checks issued declined 22.5% in volume but rose 23% in value.
More than 2.2 million checks worth 1,275 trillion rials ($4.72 billion) changed hands in Tehran Province.
Tehran ranked first as the province with the highest share of exchanged checks in volume and value accounting for 30.1% and 51% of all drawn checks.
Isfahan Province was next both in volume and value, representing 11.1% of all drawn checks and 7.1% in value of checks issued in the month.
CBI data excluded 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 529,000 cashier checks with worth 1,346 trillion rials ($4.98 billion) were processed by banks, showing 25.7% and 44.7% rise in volume and value, respectively.
Close to 176,000 checks worth 799 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. Cashiers checks are treated as guaranteed funds because the bank, rather than the purchaser, is responsible for paying the amount.
