The Canadian Payments Association has just released the following statement:

CPA Board Decides Not to Proceed Further with Image-Based Clearing Initiative

“Following a comprehensive review of the industry-wide image-based clearing project, the CPA’s Board of Directors has decided not to proceed further with this initiative.

The decision not to proceed impacts only the plan for cheque image exchange between financial institutions (FIs) for clearing purposes. Most FIs are well advanced in a broader transition to cheque images for other purposes, such as internal record retention and delivery to customers, and this transition is expected to continue. Since most FIs are now offering or plan to offer image-based services to their customers, most of the anticipated benefits of the image environment will be available for businesses and consumers.”

Roger Dowdall, Vice President of Communication and Education at CPA in Ottawa states:

“The specifications in Standard 006 remain mandatory, and all cheques should now comply with these requirements.  The decision not to proceed relates only to the process used to exchange cheques between financial institutions for clearing purposes.  Ensuring cheques are "image-friendly" remains important, as images are captured for other purposes, including document retention and tracing within financial institutions, and for delivery of services to their clients.  In addition, the specifications published in January 2005 include requirements that are not directly related to imaging but support other cheque processing improvements.  As a result, all cheques should continue to comply with the specifications in Standard 006.”

What does this mean to NEBS Customers?

All NEBS business cheques are compliant to the CPA standard as set out in the CPA Standard 006 of January 2005.  It is business as usual. This announcement will not affect the way you order your business cheques from NEBS.