A cheque is a written instruction to a financial institution to pay a stated amount from a named account to a named recipient. Cheques are the oldest form of non-cash payment and are typically used to make payments by mail, however, they have become much less common in recent years as faster and more convenient systems have taken over. Cheques do not require the payee to have any special facilities or technology to accept them, and they are still used where immediate value is not required and where other payment systems are not available. 

There are around 1.5 million cheques written every business day. Most payees deposit the cheques they receive with their own financial institutions. Usually, an electronic payment record containing details from the cheque is created and sent to the payer’s financial institution. The payer’s account is then debited and the funds credited to the payee’s account.

Procedures managing the flow and reconciliation of cheques are covered by the Australian Paper Clearing System (APCS). APCA also sets standards, such as paper standards for cheques and other MICR encoded payment instruments and laser printing equipment standards, to ensure the quality of cheque printing and to help combat cheque fraud.