Mohammed Shosanya
From November 1, 2023,the Central Bank of Nigeria,will begin to sanction banks over rejection of ‘Magnetic Ink Character Recognition line’ (MICR Line), which it called MICR reject, in cheque related transactions.
It disclosed this in a circular to all deposit money banks (DMBs), titled, ‘The Revised Nigeria Cheque Standards (NCS) and Cheque Printers Accreditation Scheme (NICPAS): MICR Reject’, and signed by Sam Okejere, director, banking services department.
Part of the circular reads, “It has come to our notice that MICR rejects have been on the increase and in furtherance of the Bank’s effort to reduce the number, Deposit Money Bank (DMBs) are hereby directed to contact their personalizers and reiterate the need to revalidate the MICR code-line details for correctness in accordance with the NCS and NICPAS version 2.0.
“Furthermore, both the presenting and receiving banks should also thoroughly examine their in-house cheque processing equipment to ensure that they are properly calibrated and supervised to eliminate distortion of image and data being transmitted during the cheque truncation process.
“Please note that the bank will monitor compliance with the provision of this circular and any bank with MICR reject starting from November 1, 2023 would be penalized in accordance with the sanctions grid.”