ALMOST HALVED THE NUMBER OF DISHONOURED CHEQUE ENTRIES IN 2025 - Filenews 22/4
A significant decrease was recorded in 2025 in the registrations of natural and legal persons in the Central Information Archive for Issuers of Dishonoured Cheques (CAP), according to the annual report of the Management Committee of the Registry, which was published by the Central Bank of Cyprus.
According to the data, the average monthly number of entries decreased by 47% in the main file and by 23% in the preliminary list compared to 2024, a development mainly attributed to the continued decline in the use of cheques as a means of payment and the market's shift towards electronic means of payment.
In particular, in 2025 the average monthly registrations of natural or legal persons stood at 9 in the main file and 10 in the preliminary list, compared to 17 and 13 respectively in 2024.
The report also states that a total of 19 meetings of the CAP Management Committee were held during 2025. In these sessions, 202 requests for deletion of natural and legal persons were examined, which had been submitted either by the registered persons themselves or by their authorized representatives.
At the same time, 15 requests for the release of amounts from accounts that had been frozen due to the CAP were examined, following relevant requests from the licensed credit institutions where the accounts were kept and after the submission of the required supporting documents.
For 2026, the main goal set is to start the project to replace the existing electronic system of the CAP with a new system, which will fully meet modern technological and regulatory requirements.
The picture captured in the report reinforces the assessment that the use of the cheque is steadily declining in the Cypriot market, as transactions are increasingly transferred to digital and electronic channels.
