The Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and the Benefit Company yesterday announced that the new Bahrain Cheque Truncation System (BCTS) will commence operations on May 13. BCTS will replace the current paper-based cheque clearing system in the kingdom with a fully automated image-based cheque clearing one. CBB executive director of banking operations Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa said that the implementation of BCTS is a national initiative to modernise and improve efficiency of cheque clearing in Bahrain, in keeping with global trends. The implementation of the new system has been undertaken by Benefit and will be operated by them under the guidance and supervision of the CBB. He said BCTS would not change the current practice of writing and depositing of cheques by bank customers. This new system would speed up the clearing cycle for bank customers to get cheque proceeds on the same day instead of the current two to three days. The new system is expected to enhance the efficiency of cheque payments of individuals and corporates. BCTS will reduce costs and risks associated with handling physical cheques and make banks' operations more efficient. EM