New site gives information for cheque printers

Latest edition of ChequeMate - the newsletter for cheque printers - revamped and made available to download from www.chequeandcredit.co.uk

The Cheque and Credit Clearing Company, which manages the cheque clearing system in Great Britain, has launched a new website, www.chequeandcredit.co.uk. The site will provide frequent updates on new developments within the industry. It also aims to become a useful resource for cheque printers, all of whom are Cheque Printer Accreditation Scheme (CPAS) members.

Coinciding with the launch of the new website, the CPAS newsletter, ChequeMate, has been revamped providing latest news specifically for members of the scheme, and can be downloaded from the Cheque and Credit website at www.chequeandcredit.co.uk

For more information about the Cheque Printer Accreditation Scheme, please email cpashelpdesk@chequeandcredit.co.uk.

Angela Thomas, Managing Director of the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company, said:

"We hope the new site will prove a really useful resource, both for our accredited cheque printers, and anybody looking for more information about us and cheques in general. With the significant 2-4-6 changes to cheque clearing processes happening this November, it will be a great way of keeping everyone up-to-date and informed about new developments."

ENDS

For further information contact the APACS Information Office:

T: 0870 420 3208
E: apacs@fourcommunications.com

Notes to editors:

1. The Cheque and Credit Clearing Company is a membership-based industry body. In addition to managing the cheque clearing system, which also processes bankers' drafts, building society cheques, postal orders, warrants and government payable orders, its wide remit includes the management of the systems for clearing paper bank giro credits and euro-denominated cheques.
2. The Cheque Printer Accreditation Scheme was introduced in 1995 with the aim of tackling fraud involving company cheques. The Scheme ensures that all cheques for use in the UK clearing are now produced by accredited printers who have adopted stringent security standards. These measures have increased the security of cheque production by enabling standards to be introduced more swiftly and economically across the industry. There are currently 63 members of CPAS.
3. A new APACS report, The Way We Pay 2007: UK Cheques, reveals that although cheque volumes show an overall decline, they do remain popular for certain types of payments. Around 23 per cent of all cheque payments are used to pay bills, and 13 per cent of personal cheques are used for person-to-person payments:

Personal cheque payments - breakdown

For information on how to order a copy of The Way We Pay 2007: UK Cheques, and details of other APACS publications available to purchase, please visit www.apacs.org.uk/publications.html.