Palestine Monetary Authority Organizes Workshop at Tulkarem Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Agriculture to Introduce the New Electronic Clearance System

Tulkarem – Palestine Monetary Authority organized today workshop at Tulkarem Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Agriculture to introduce the new electronic clearance system as instructed by His Excellency Mr. Azzam Shawwa, the Governor of Palestine Monetary Authority. The Chairman of the Tulkarem Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Agriculture Mr. Ibrahim Abu Haseeb, the Head of Support Policies and Payment System Development Division at Palestine Monetary Authority Mr. Ameen Hamdan, the Head of Credit Operations Systems Division at Palestine Monetary Authority Mr. Saleem Hamadneh, and traders and businesspeople from Tulkarem attended the workshop.

Mr. Haseeb praised the role of Palestine Monetary Authority in supervising and developing the banking sector, which contributed to safeguarding Palestinian financial stability and promoted integration with regional and international economy as well as the efforts of Palestine Monetary Authority to introduce banking systems that provided service to the entire society.

Mr. Hamdan briefed the workshop about the mechanism of the new electronic clearance system, its objectives, and the steps taken by Palestine Monetary Authority to prepare the banks that operated in Palestine for using this new system.

Mr. Hamdan explained that shifting towards the electronic clearance system meant that banks would exchange information about checks including data, pictures, and codes via safe and fast electronic means through the electronic clearance center, which Palestine Monetary Authority supervised and managed. Hence, the cycle of clearing checks would be one day rather than three and clients could collect checks amounts within 24 hours of checks due dates.

Mr. Hamdan also stated that the new electronic clearance system would speed up the cycle of money and cash liquidity in the local economy, which would make collection of checks safer by reducing the use of the long clearance time and enhance confidence in checks as payment instruments. 

Mr. Hamdan said that Palestine Monetary Authority had issued instructions to banks to enhance security specifications of checks as requirement of using the electronic clearance system to facilitate clearance, end check fraud, and to reduce losses from fraud in the banking and economic sector. Mr. Hamdan called upon citizens and traders to replace their old checks with checks of new security specifications.

Mr. Hamadneh addressed the procedures set up by Palestine Monetary Authority to reduce returned checks in the first phase, including restricting reconciliatory settlement, linking private sector businesses with the Integrated Credit Information System, and the impact of the procedures on returned checks phenomenon. Mr. Hamadneh also addressed the procedures that were being discussed such as reducing the number of reconciliatory settlements, change the number of returned checks subject for classification, enhance judicial procedures to limit reconciliatory settlements among businesses and individuals, cancel the three months period to classify clients on the checks system, and providing citizens with access to the Integrated Credit Information System via the website of Palestine Monetary Authority. Participants in the workshop were given the opportunity to ask questions and make inquiries during the workshop.