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In January 2005, the Canadian Payments Association (CPA) introduced new specifications for cheques in order to deliver increased efficiency and speed in the Canadian clearing system. The CPA extended its transition period to September 2, 2008, which means the new standards are now in effect.
No further action is required if you’ve ordered your cheques through HSBC Bank Canada or Davis + Henderson after April 2005, as they will already conform to the new standards. If you need to order new compliant cheques, please call or visit your local HSBC branch.
Business customers who order cheques through other suppliers or use cheque printing software will need to verify compliance. At HSBC, we will continue to process "old-format" cheques for our clients while you adjust to the new requirements. We strongly encourage you to adopt the new cheque standard in order to reap the benefits of new cheque imaging technology and to avoid potential cheque processing or imaging delays, tracing costs, and any other inconvenience.
Personal cheques can continue to be used in the old format until they need to be reordered, providing a good image can be captured from them.
Not sure if your cheques are compliant? You can start by comparing your cheques against the CPA’s Cheque Standard 006 requirements, available from the CPA website. An abridged version is also available at Specification for Imageable Cheques: A Quick Reference. If you are still uncertain, simply visit your local HSBC branch with ten sample cheques. HSBC will conduct a series of tests and will provide you with the results within six to eight weeks.
Here's a sample of a compliant cheque:
Key changes include:
- Adoption of a numeric date field in one of three specified formats:
- MMDDYYYY, DDMMYYYY or YYYYMMDD for English version
- AAAAMMJJ, JJMMAAAA or MMJJAAAA for French versions - An increase in the minimum length of cheques.
- Standardized positions for key fields on the cheque.
- Disallowance of certain elements that may hinder the capture of images or data from the cheque.
- New printing requirements on the reverse of the cheque so that image capture can be verified.
Avoid all these steps by ordering your cheques through HSBC Bank Canada or Davis + Henderson, where your cheques are guaranteed to be compliant.
For further information or inquiries, please visit your local branch or call us at 1-888-310-HSBC (4722).
Additional Information
Canadian Payments Association (CPA) Website
CPA Frequently Asked Questions – New Cheque Specifications
