Cheque phaseout

No timeline, says bank country head

STAKEHOLDERS have yet to map out a timeline of the impending phasing out of the cheque as a form of payment in Fiji, said ANZ Fiji country head Rabih Yazbek. The phase out has been work in progress over the last few years between the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) and the Association of Banks in Fiji (ABIF) as Fiji’s moves towards digital payment solutions through the new National Payment System (RBF) managed by RBF.

“We’re (stakeholders) close to announcing what that phasing out looks like,” Mr Yazbek said in an interview with

“Effectively, we’ll be going through a few stages where we consult with the cheque users, then we stop ordering new chequebooks, then we advise people not to write new cheques and eventually we’ll stop accepting cheque deposits.

“It’s something that the industry is committed to, but the exact timing - what happens on the first of April onwards, we don’t have that agreed yet.”

The phase out is expected to closely follow interoperability between banks and Mobile Network Operators (MNO), a feature of the NPS, which Mr Yazbek said is “very close” to happening.

“One of the features that’s about to be activated in the new national payment switch is for banks to be able to be inter-operable with the MNOs.

“It hasn’t gone live yet but we’re very close. Effectively we’ll be able to do twoway payments in and out of wallets as if it’s another bank and we’re talking about instant fund transfers between the six commercial banks, M-PaiSA and MyCash. This is 24-7 payments you can make under $1000 will be almost instant, it will be transacted in under 20 seconds.”

Last November, when announcing phase two of the NPS, RBF Governor Ariff Ali said the interoperability of mobile wallets to bank accounts will “bring further enhancements and seamless payments within the system”.

“The RBF will begin awareness on phasing out of cheques shortly after the onboarding of the Mobile Network Operators,” Mr Ali said.