Public 'confused' over cheques

The majority of people have no idea how long they need to wait before they can be sure a cheque will not bounce.

New rules were introduced in November 2007, under which if a cheque had not bounced within six days of being paid into an account, the recipient could be confident that the money was theirs. Previously, a cheque could bounce weeks or even months after it had been paid in.

But three years after the rules were changed, and despite an awareness campaign, only 1 per cent of people knew how long they had to wait before they could be confident a cheque would not bounce, according to the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company.