WINDHOEK – Chairperson of the Bankers Association of Namibia (BAN), Vetumbuavi Mungunda, has advised that the industry will completely phase out cheques as a payment instrument by June 2019. “This means that Namibian banks will no longer be issuing and/or accepting any cheque after that date and that individual banks may have their own cut-off dates for cheques leading up to next year,” Mungunda confirmed.
Mungunda, however, added that all banks have many alternative and more effective means to transact that are safer and cheaper that customers can make use of. “A large portion of cheque users are from specific industries that have cheque payments built into their business operations, many of which would benefit from moving away from cheque payments in terms of efficiency and risk,” explained Mungunda via a statement issued this week.
“One must consider the administration process, storage of physical paper that is required for cheques as well as the waiting period for a cheque to clear. This is in contrast with electronic payments which can be done in minutes, securely,” he added.
“Moving away from cheques as a means of receiving or making payment altogether can go a long way to reduce costs and increase convenience for customers and businesses alike, and I encourage customers to approach their individual banks for details,” Mungunda concluded.