Stable number of cleared checks reflects confidence

In the first nine months of 2012, the number of cleared checks remained stable at around 9.7 million checks compared to the same period in 2011. The value of cleared checks dropped marginally by 1.7 percent to $51.7 billion compared to the previous year.

On the other hand, the number of returned checks rose by 8.2 percent to 211,000 checks at end-September. The value of these checks increased by 6.6 percent to $1.1 billion.