Cheques

Cheque use is declining rapidly as Australia's digital economy takes hold.

Announcement: Australian Government’s Cheques Transition Plan

On 18 November 2024, the Australian Government announced its Cheques Transition Plan. Under the plan, cheques cannot be issued in Australia after 30 June 2028 and will not be accepted by financial institutions or as a form of payment after 30 September 2029.

The decision comes as cheque usage continues to decline rapidly, with cheques representing less than 0.1% of non-cash retail payments in 2022/2023.

Financial institutions understand the need to help customers transition to faster, safer, and more convenient digital payment methods.

AusPayNet is actively working with industry and consumer stakeholder groups to provide the necessary tools and resources to support regular cheque users through this transition.

In Australia, like in other countries, cheques are in long-term decline. Our lives are increasingly digital and as more services move online, consumers and businesses are moving away from cheques.

Cheque use in Australia has dropped by 83% over the last 10 years. Only small numbers of cheques are still used by certain sectors in the community.

We are tracking the decline of cheques to ensure all Australians:

have access to electronic payments as cheques become scarcer and more difficult to use
can share in the benefits of the digit economy

We coordinate rules and arrangements for cheque clearing through the Australian Paper Clearing System. Through the APCS Management Committee, our work includes:

ensuring the operation of effective systems, policies and procedures for exchanging cheques between financial institutions
maintaining standards and specifications for the design and security of cheques

Cheque use has plunged by more than 20% each year since 2016.

Tracking the decline of cheques

The rate at which Australian’s are moving away from cheques is accelerating as the digital economy takes hold. Cheque use has plunged by more than 20% each year since 2016.

The decline in cheque use is a global trend, but the rate at which this is happening varies from country to country. Between 2011 and 2015, Australia’s drop in cheque use (-45.6%) exceeded that of most other similar countries including Canada (-25.6%), France (-24.6%) and the United Kingdom (-42.5%).

AusPayNet is working to ensure that as customers continue to choose convenient digital payment methods, no remaining cheque users are left behind.

Maintaining cheque standards

Working together with participants, equipment suppliers and the printing industry, we maintain standards to ensure the quality of cheque printing. These include technical specifications and guidelines to help designers, printers and businesses when producing custom designed cheques.

Cheque processing and clearing

The system continues to operate efficiently as cheque numbers decline. Industry-wide digital cheque clearing was introduced in 2015 to speed up the processing cycle. Cheque data and images are now exchanged between financial institutions electronically, with paper cheques destroyed shortly after settlement. Previously, cheque clearing involved a physical network of official exchanges across Australia, and long-term storage systems