The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced stricter regulations for banks and cheque printing companies, imposing fines of up to ₦10 million for including unapproved features on cheques.
The directive forms part of updates to the Nigeria Cheque Standard and the Nigeria Cheque Printers’ Accreditation Scheme, which govern how cheques are produced and processed in Nigeria’s banking system.
Under the new rule, banks and accredited cheque printers must obtain prior approval from the CBN before adding any new features to cheque designs.
Failure to comply could attract penalties of up to ₦10 million, while repeat violations may lead to even stricter sanctions.
The apex bank also warned that banks must use only cheque printers accredited by the CBN. Printing cheques through unapproved companies could result in regulatory sanctions.
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Cheque printing companies are now required to submit samples of their printed cheques to the CBN for inspection and approval before issuing them to customers.
The regulator added that cheques that fail to meet approved security or encoding standards may also attract penalties.
Beyond fines, the CBN may suspend or withdraw the accreditation of non-compliant printers and require them to reprint affected cheque books at their own cost.
According to the CBN, the measures aim to strengthen trust in Nigeria’s payment system and reduce cheque-related fraud.
Although digital payment platforms continue to grow, cheques remain widely used for large corporate and institutional transactions, making strict compliance with cheque standards essential.
