Monday, October 5, 2026
Jamaica is phasing the cheque out of its national clearing system step by step. Cheques of J$1 million and above stopped being processed on September 1, 2026; the ceiling falls to J$500,000 on March 1, 2027 and to J$100,000 on September 1, 2027, before Jamaican-dollar cheques end entirely on March 1, 2028. The habit is already fading: 2.4 million cheques were processed in 2025, down 12.6% on the year, while point-of-sale transactions climbed to 34.4 million.
Not everyone is ready to go quietly. A legal challenge filed on September 28 questions whether the Bank of Jamaica has the authority to make the change, with a Supreme Court hearing set for October 7. For pensioners, small landlords and church treasurers who still pay rent, deposits and bills on paper, the road ahead is signposted in every direction at once. So when the cheque book closes, who will show them the way?
Under a Kingston streetlight, an older couple stand lost outside a row of veranda houses: he squints at a phone map, she hugs a battered “CHEQUE BOOK” to her chest. Beside them a crowded signpost points every which way, its arrows reading “BANK APP”, “J$1M+ STOPPED” and “NO CHEQUES 2028”.
Read more: The End of the Cheque
Visit our YouTube Community ↗