NCB alerts clients as $1-million cheques leave national clearing from September

KINGSTON, Jamaica — National Commercial Bank Jamaica (NCB) has told customers to brace for major shifts in how large cheque payments are handled, as the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) pushes ahead with reforms to modernise the island’s payments infrastructure.

From September 1, 2026, any cheque worth J$1 million or more will be barred from acceptance and issuance through the national clearing system. NCB confirmed it will still take cheques written on its own accounts when those instruments are brought straight to the bank for settlement.

The overhaul tracks a BOJ policy change that scraps the current fixed regulatory levy of J$5,000 plus general consumption tax (GCT) on eligible high-value automated clearing house (ACH) deals. In its place, authorities will apply a percentage-based — or ad valorem — regulatory charge. That levy covers cheques of J$1 million and higher, and ACH debit requests in which payees pull money straight from customers’ accounts.

NCB’s announcement mirrors earlier moves by CIBC Caribbean, Scotiabank Jamaica and First Global Bank (FGB), as local lenders step back from cheque-driven payments. The bank also said the qualifying cheque amount will keep falling in phases until cheques are no longer issued or accepted through the national clearing system at all, with that full stop scheduled for March 1, 2028.