Savings and Current Accounts

If you deposit a cheque before the cut-off time at 5:30 p.m. on a business day (i.e. Mon to Fri, excluding Sat, Sun and public holidays), the funds will be made available after 3:00 p.m. the following business day upon successful clearance.

If the cheque is deposited after the cut-off time or on a non-business day, it will be processed on the next business day. Upon successful clearance, the funds will be available after 3:00 p.m. on the second business day after deposit.

Please note that the account ledger balance will be updated to include the corresponding amount once the cheque is deposited, and the funds will be made available only when the cheque is successfully cleared.

Arrangement under severe weather:

• Cheque processing may differ if Typhoon Signal No. 8 or above, the Black Rainstorm Warning, or "Extreme Conditions" is announced in Hong Kong
• If severe weather is in effect before 9:00 a.m. and cancelled after 12:00 noon on a business day, only cheques deposited before the cut-off time on the previous business day will be processed
• Other cheque deposits will be processed on the next business day, provided there are no severe weather conditions
• If severe weather conditions occur after 9:00 a.m. or are cancelled by or before 12:00 noon, cheques will be processed as usual

You can modify the cheque directly by signing your full name next to the changes. Alternatively, you can destroy the cheque and issue a new one.

If you opted for both signatures when opening your joint account, both account holders must sign the cheques. If you chose to use a single signature, then only one account holder needs to sign.

If there are insufficient funds in your account to cover the cheque payment, we'll return the cheque and impose a related fee. For details on the charges, please refer to the Bank Tariff Guide. If you hold an Integrated Account, an AutoSweeping fund transfer may be executed under certain circumstances to help cover the payment. For details, please visit our website > "Banking Services" > "Integrated Account" > "Integrated Financial Services".

You can stop a cheque payment as long as it hasn't been cleared yet. Just visit any of our branches or call us on (852) 2822 0228 to request a stop payment. Please note that there's a fee for this service.

You should take reasonable precautions to prevent cheque fraud or forgery. In particular:

• Always safekeep your cheque books and cheques from loss, theft or unauthorised use. You should take appropriate security measures, including lock and key
• Only use cheques issued by us. Do not draw cheques on blank paper or on forms not issued by us, and never give blank cheques from your cheque book to anyone else
• Do not pre-sign blank cheques
• A bearer cheque is a cheque drawn payable to bearer or endorsed "in blank". An order cheque is a cheque drawn payable to a particular person or to his order without prohibiting further transfer. For added security when sending a cheque by post or other means, you should delete the words "OR BEARER" to make it an "order cheque", and cross it with two parallel lines to ensure the cheque can only be paid through bank accounts
• Always write and sign cheques using non-erasable ink. The signature should match the specimen signature on our record
• Avoid making alterations to cheques. If a change is absolutely necessary, you should confirm the amendment by signing your full signature next to it
• The words and figures on a cheque should agree and be written in such a way that no space is left after the word "Dollar" and the sign "$" (Arabic numerals must be used and written in as plain a manner as possible)
• Report any loss, theft or unauthorised use of a signed cheque to us as soon as reasonably practicable

We may dishonour and/or return cheques with technical errors (e.g. incorrectly completed, altered without authorisation, post-dated and out-of-date) or for any other reasons that we consider appropriate and to impose a fee in respect of the dishonoured and/or returned cheques.