Staff training
Explaining 2-4-6 and 2-6-6 cheque clearing timescales to your customers
In November 2007 the cheque clearing industry introduced new maximum timescales for customers paying in a cheque. All clearing banks and all other subscribers to the Banking Codes have implemented these changes so all now offer these maximum timescales to their customers or better.
Whilst these changes offer a clear benefit to customers, making them aware of these changes is a challenge, if only because customers are paying in fewer and fewer cheques: on average only 5 a year.
What support material is available to help me explain these changes?
A range of material has been produced to help you and some of which you may want to pass on to customers. These include:
- Consumer leaflet
- Business customer leaflet
- 246 - an animated downloadable guide
- 266 - an animated downloadable guide
- www.chequechecker.co.uk - a online resource you can share with customers. They can type in the date they want to pay in a cheque and work out the maximum dates for earning interest, withdrawing funds and getting certainty on cheque funds.
In a recent external review into customer-facing staff understanding of 2-4-6, there was found to be considerable confusion resulting in inconsistent information being given to customers. With this mind we have put together guidelines that can help improve staff, and therefore customer, understanding of the 2-4-6 clearing timescales.
Best Practice Guidelines for Staff Training on 2-4-6 Cheque Clearing Timescales
What sort of questions do customers ask?
You will find helpful tips on answering the questions customers typically ask in our FAQs. Most customers want to know when they will earn interest on the money paid in by the cheque, how many days is it before they can withdraw the money and when can they be sure the cheque won’t bounce. You will need to check the arrangements for your customer’s account to find out whether your financial institution offers them a better deal, as it may beat the industry maximum timescales for earning interest and withdrawals.
Our accounts offer better timescales for interest and withdrawal – is that correct?
It could well be. Banks and building societies still compete to offer services that beat these guaranteed times so you will need to refer to the terms and conditions of your customer’s account.
Where can I find out when day 0 starts for the timescales?
As you know, there are lots of ways for your customers to pay in a cheque – in a branch, at a cash machine, by post or at a Post Office. These all affect when you bank actually receives the cheque, so the cut-off time will vary. The cut-off should be clearly displayed somewhere in your branch and it will be generally set out in the account’s terms and conditions so you will need to refer to these. Your organisation may also have developed an intranet site for your use.
What is the best way to explain the cheque clearing timescales to customers?
You might find it helpful to work through the examples given in the consumer leaflet and business leaflet and adapt it for the particular day of the week or you might also want to use the cheque checker.
If a customer asks about the timescales on a cheque being paid into someone else’s account, can I tell them anything without breaching customer confidentiality?
As long as you use the industry maximum timescales as an example you are on safe ground. Obviously, the customer concerned needs to speak to their own bank or building society to be entirely sure of their competitive offerings on timescales and cut off times for paying in cheques.
You say the end of day 6 for certainty but shouldn’t my customer add a few more days to be absolutely certain that a cheque won’t bounce?
No. If your organisation is a subscriber to the Banking Code the 6 working day timescale for certainty is guaranteed. However if certainty is really important to your customer, for instance if they need to be sure of the cheque funds before releasing goods, they can always check their bank balance at the start of day 7.