Imposition of the Cheque Processing Fee beginning 1 April 2014

January 23, 2014
Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, 23 January 2014:- The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) wishes to remind members of the public that effective 1 April 2014, commercial banks will charge a cheque processing fee of 50 sen on the issuer or drawer of a cheque. Issuers or drawers of cheques are therefore reminded to have sufficient funds in their accounts to cover the cheque processing fee. The fee will be imposed on each cheque and is in addition to the existing stamp duty of 15 sen per cheque leaf.

For better clarity, ABM has issued a set of guidelines to the public with regard to how the cheque processing fee will be charged. Members of the public can view the guidelines on ABM’s website www.abm.org.my.

The fee will be charged whenever a cheque is received by a bank for processing and whether for encashment over the counter or for depositing into an account. The applicant of a banker’s cheque/bank draft/cashier’s order (i.e. a cheque issued by a bank) will however, have to pay the cheque processing fee at the time of application. In such cases, the cheque processing fee will be in addition to the stamp duty and commission collected by the bank.

ABM and our member banks are in full support of the national agenda for the migration to electronic payment (e-payment) and would like to encourage members of the public to adopt e-payment which is a fast, affordable and convenient method of transferring funds and making payments. A series of nationwide road shows and Open Days to promote e-payments, and in particular Interbank GIRO, has been held since October 2013 and will continue until March 2014. These road shows have been jointly organised by Bank Negara Malaysia, Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) and ABM.

For further enquiries, please contact ABM’s via ABMConnect at 1300-88-9980 from Mondays to Fridays (save for public holidays), 9.00a.m. to 5.30p.m.
ABMConnect | Toll-free on 1300-88-9980

ABMConnect provides an avenue for consumers to clarify any doubts and verify information on conventional banking issues.