The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has imposed a penalty of up to N20 million on banks and accredited cheque printers that repeatedly breach cheque standards.
The CBN disclosed the penalty fee in a circular titled ‘Revised Sanctions on Defaulters of the Nigeria Cheque Standard and Nigeria Cheque Printers’ Accreditation Scheme 2.0’, addressed to all deposit money banks (DMBs) and cheque printers and signed by Hamisu Abdullahi, director of its banking services department.
According to CBN, the review is part of efforts to strengthen the clearing system and align enforcement measures with current industry realities.
Recalling an earlier circular in 2019 where it issued sanctions to defaulters of the Nigerian Cheque Standards (NCS) and Nigeria Cheque Printers Accreditation Scheme (NICPAS), the CBN said it had become imperative to review the aforementioned sanction grid to reflect the current realities in the banking industry.
Under the revised sanctions, the regulator said commercial banks that engage unaccredited cheque printers risk withdrawal of the affected cheques from circulation and a N10 million fine and a repeat offence will attract a N20 million penalty and a withdrawal of the cheques, while failure or refusal to submit personalised cheque samples for testing and analysis will attract a N5 million fine.
The CBN also imposed stricter penalties for noncompliance with proper encoding, security, and quality standards, including a minimum fine of N10,000 per instrument, noting that accredited cheque printers and personalisers that introduce unapproved security features face a N10 million fine per feature, noting that the penalty will be shared equally between the commercial bank and the printer and that subcontracting more than 50 per cent of a cheque printing job outside approved business continuity or disaster recovery arrangements could result in a N20 million fine and possible withdrawal of accreditation for repeat breaches.
On regulatory compliance, the CBN said cheque printers that fail to respond to queries within seven days after a warning will incur a N1 million daily fine.
