Lack of MICR cheques hits bank clients

Clients of banks, particularly state-owned commercial banks, are facing difficulty in withdrawing cash mainly due to lack of Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) cheques recently.
The banks were not able to provide such cheques to their clients as per requirements as the MICR cheque printing machine of the state-owned Security Printing Corporation (Bangladesh) Limited (SPCBL) was out of order for the last one month.
"We can't provide such cheques to our valued clients mainly due to technical problem of the printing machine," Zeauddin Ahmed, managing director of the SPCBL, told the FE.
He also said the SPCBL resumed supply of MICR cheques to the clients from the last couple of days after suspension of production for nearly one month.
The SPCBL has already issued a work order for procuring a fresh machine to keep continuing the printing of such modern cheques, Mr. Ahmed explained.
"We expect the new machine to come into operation by December this year," he noted.
The SPCBL, a subsidiary organisation of the Bangladesh Bank (BB), prints various security items with a major proportion of banknote production and government postal stamps.
Talking to the FE, a senior official of the Janata Bank Limited said: "At present, we don't face any problem relating to the shortfall of the MICR cheques. But our bank faced shortfall of such cheques just two weeks back."
Agrani Bank Limited did not face any MICR cheque problem because it met clients' demand from its stock, a senior official of the state-owned commercial bank (SoCB) said.
Demand for such cheques decreased recently as clients have begun using debit cards gradually, a senior official of a leading private commercial bank said.
The private banker also said a section of clients prefers to use the debit cards instead of cheques for hassle-free cash transaction.
Currently, around 8.0 million debit cards are being used across the country.
Some commercial banks have already applied to the Bangladesh Bank (BB) seeking permission to print such cheques from private printing presses.
"The banks are now allowed to print their MICR cheques from private printing presses in line with the central bank's directives," a BB senior official told the FE.  
He also said the BB is now clearing MICR cheques using automated processing system to expedite the country's business activities.
The Bangladesh Automated Clearing House (BACH), the automated payment systems platform, has two components - Bangladesh Automated Cheque Processing Systems (BACPS) and Bangladesh Electronic Funds Transfer Network (BEFTN).
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