ICICI Bank has announced good news for its customers. From October 4, 2025, checks deposited in the bank will be cleared on the same day.
This change has been introduced under the new guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Earlier, customers had to wait one or two days for check clearance, but now funds will be credited to their accounts much faster.
New Rule and Implementation Date
ICICI Bank has informed its customers through email that the same-day check clearance system will begin from October 4, 2025.
The RBI recently announced that check clearing will now be continuous in real-time instead of the earlier batch system.
First phase: October 4, 2025
Second phase: January 3, 2026
This means customers will directly benefit, as the earlier waiting period of 1–2 days will be removed.
Conditions for Same-Day Clearance
To use this facility, customers must follow certain rules:
Checks must be deposited before the branch’s cut-off time (timings may vary for each branch).
The check must be properly enclosed and the account should have a sufficient balance.
Checks with errors, overwriting, or corrections will not be cleared.
Positive Pay System for Safety
ICICI Bank has also advised customers to use the Positive Pay System for extra security.
In this system, customers provide details of their check (account number, check number, beneficiary name, date, and amount) to the bank electronically. These details are verified at the time of clearance to prevent fraud.
Rules for Positive Pay:
Recommended for checks above ₹50,000
Mandatory for checks above ₹5,00,000
If a check above ₹5 lakh is deposited without Positive Pay confirmation, the bank will return it.
Important Rules for Issuing Checks
The amount should be written correctly in words and figures.
The check must have a valid date.
No overwriting, cutting, or correction is allowed.
The signature must match the sample signature in the bank.
RBI’s New Guidelines
In August 2025, the RBI announced a new model for the Check Truncation System (CTS). Starting October 4, 2025, there will be a single presentation session from 10 AM to 4 PM. During this period:
Banks will continuously scan deposited checks and send them to the clearing house.
The clearing house will then forward the images to the drawee bank (the bank on which the check is issued).
This will ensure same-day settlement and eliminate delays.
How Checks Were Cleared Earlier
Currently, banks use the CTS system where the scanned image of the check is sent to the drawee bank.
But because it worked in batches, the settlement used to happen the next day. As a result, customers usually had to wait 1–2 days for the money to reflect in their accounts.
