ICICI Bank Customers Pay Attention! Bank To Clear Your Cheques Same Day From THIS Date

ICICI Bank Update: ICICI Bank has announced a major change for its customers to ease the hassle related to cheque clearing and settlement processes. From 4 October onwards, ICICI Bank branch across the counter will clear cheques and credit the amount within one working day, as per the bank's official website.

The recent announcement by the ICICI Bank aligns with the Reserve Bank of India's new system, which will ensure that cheques will be cleared within few hours of their submission.

What Is The Present Cheque Clearing Process?

Currently, banks use the Cheque Truncation System (CTS) to process cheques. This system captures an electronic image of the cheque along with essential details and sends it to the drawee bank. The physical transfer of paper cheques is eliminated, reducing time. The return cycle completes the next day, followed by settlement. As per the website, ICICI Bank drop box or ATM drop box will be credited to the account within two working days.

ICICI Bank's Positive Pay Feature

Customers who are submitting cheques for higher amount, they can use ICICI Bank's Positive Pay feature to prevent fraudulent transactions. According to ICICI's website, Positive Pay involves reconfirming cheque details electronically. Customers can share key details of cheques exceeding Rs 50,000 with the bank for additional verification before processing.

The Positive Pay feature is recommended for cheques above Rs 50,000 and mandatory for those exceeding Rs 5 lakh. If a cheque amount surpasses Rs 5 lakh without Positive Pay confirmation, it will be returned. Only cheques with Positive Pay confirmation qualify for protection under RBI's dispute resolution mechanism.

RBI Focus On Faster Cheque Clearance

The RBI's announcement in August 2025 outlined a shift from batch clearing to continuous clearing and settlement upon realisation. This transition will occur in two phases: Phase 1 on October 4, 2025, and Phase 2 on January 3, 2026. A single presentation session will run from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm starting October 4, 2025.

How To Avoid Delay?

Despite an emphasis on faster cheque clearance, it is important for customers to make sure that their cheque submissions meet all the conditions and criteria. The amounts in words and figures should match without alterations. The cheque must have a valid date and no overwriting or corrections in payee's name or amount are allowed. The drawer's signature should match the specimen signature available with the bank.

The RBI notification stated that banks would scan received cheques and send them immediately to the clearing house during presentation sessions. The clearing house will then release images continuously to drawee banks.