The BENEFIT of e-Cheques: Bahrain

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Central Bank of Bahrain has also directed BENEFIT Company to implement and operate the Bahrain Electronic Cheque System with the latest technologies.

BENEFIT has been operating the Electronic Cheque Clearing System in Bahrain since its launch in 2012.

The system also enjoys appropriate legal frameworks and legal controls.

Electronic Communications and Transactions Law issued by Decree No. (54) of 2018 and Decree No. (55) of 2018 regarding negotiable electronic records secures electronic transactions.

Decree No. (45) of 2021 states that the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority is the administrative authority in charge of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Law.

BECS, operated by BENEFIT, is the first e-Cheque system around the globe that caters to individual and corporate bank customers.

The system also provides electronic cheque service through mobile apps such as the BenefitPay and the e-cheque application.

Electronic cheque services allow requesting an electronic chequebook from retail banks, check issuance services such as editing, signing and depositing.

 All these are done electronically without the customer having to visit the bank.

Individuals can register electronically for e-Cheque through the BenefitPay application.

 As for companies, they can register through retail banks to obtain a dedicated (e-Cheque) application to avail of online e-Cheque service.

Electronic cheque application allows companies to have multiple persons authorised to sign checks online while applying any limits on each authorised signatory.

When did the first cheque come?

The first cheques started cropping up in the United States toward the end of the 17th century, and the first printed versions were introduced in 1762 by British banker Lawrence Childs.

Before that, cheques were simply written out by hand, sort of like IOUs.

 How does an electronic cheque work?

With an eCheck, the money is electronically withdrawn from the payer’s account, sent to the payee’s banking institution, and then electronically deposited into the payee’s account.

This is all done similar to paper check processing, just electronically.