SBP to launch digital cheque clearing system from October 15

From October 15, the State Bank of Pakistan is rolling out the Pakistan Express Clearing System, which replaces physical cheque exchange with image-based clearing. According to Profit by Pakistan Today, the approach relies on cheque truncation, so instruments will be cleared using scanned copies and linked electronic records rather than being carried between banks. The collecting bank will capture the image and send it to the clearing house NIFT, which will route it electronically to the drawee bank for processing.

Initially, a small group of participating institutions will test the system in a pilot ending November 15. NIFT and those members will then review results, fix problems and send a combined status document to the central bank. A second phase starting November 16 will extend PECS to all remaining NIFT member institutions, which must gradually build cheque truncation capacity across their branches. An extra daily clearing cycle will run through December 31, with submissions to the central bank due by 3 pm, and full nationwide rollout is set for April 30, 2027.