ECHEQ or Electronic Check
All banks are required to receive an ECHEQ and allow its deposit. To issue it, you must have the CUIT or CUIL of the beneficiary and it can be deposited in checking accounts and savings banks. An ECHEQ can be accepted or rejected until the expiration date of the value.
In the operation of ECHEQ, three roles were defined: issuance, management and deposit. Issuance and deposit are exclusive roles of financial institutions. With respect to the management role, it can be provided by financial institutions as well as by systemically important financial market infrastructures, authorized for this purpose by the BCRA.
Among the functions that a manager can perform we can mention: various notices, notifications, consultations, returns, endorsements, registration of guarantees, etc. In the MSME field, ECHEQ is relevant for being a simple financing option since it streamlines the procedure for transmitting, discounting and negotiating paper checks.
The ECHEQ is subject to the same rules as the paper cheque, depending on whether it is a common cheque or a deferred payment cheque, to the extent that they are not incompatible with the particular provisions established.
For more information, see the Harmonized Text on the Regulation of Bank Current Accounts and the Harmonized Text on the National Payment System – Checks and other Clearable Instruments.
In order to participate in the operation of ECHEQ, the financial institutions, the financial market infrastructures that fulfill the roles of manager or that carry out the custody/registration of ECHEQ for its stock market trading and the Clearing House COELSA SA, in its role as administrator of the storage system, had to sign an agreement that establishes the responsibilities of each one.
Features and benefits of ECHEQ:
- – It simplifies the operation of issuance, endorsement, negotiation and circulation in general, through digital channels.
- – Allows unlimited endorsements.
- – It can also be issued in U.S. dollars (USD).
- – Reduces operating costs compared to traditional checking.
- – It provides greater safety and effectiveness.
- – Minimize the reasons for rejection.
- – It allows us to know with certainty its traceability.
- – The subscription of ECHEQ is by mutual agreement between entities and clients.
- – The Low Value Clearing House operates and manages ECHEQ’s storage system. In this storage is the record of its different statuses.
- – The functionalities are: issuance, endorsement, guarantee, endorsement for negotiation, deposit, and custody.
- – In principle, only banked people can receive ECHEQ.
How do I issue an ECHEQ?
To issue an ECHEQ, it is only necessary to know the CUIT/CUIL or CDI of the beneficiary, unlike a transfer where a CBU or Alias must be entered. To reverse the issuance of the ECHEQ, it can be cancelled when the ECHEQ has not been accepted by the beneficiary or request the refund if the beneficiary accepted it. ECHEQ can only be issued by current account holders.
How do I deposit an ECHEQ?
The deposit is made through the platform enabled by a financial institution. Once the customer accepts the ECHEQ and, since they can view it through the electronic channels enabled by all the financial institutions where they have an account, they can select the entity and deposit account. The accreditation deadlines are the same as for paper cheques: 48 hours.
I received an ECHEQ, what do I do?
You must accept it or ignore it. In the case of accepting the ECHEQ, among the actions you can carry out are custody in the financial institution, so that it can carry out the deposit management on the payment date, endorse it, discount it or negotiate it in a regulated market. Soon you will be able to request guarantees directly from the guarantor.
What do I do if the ECHEQ was rejected?
The return function allows the rejected ECHEQ to be returned at the request of any chain endorser, guarantor or drawer, to make an agreement between parties. This would be negotiating the payment with a member of the endorsement chain. It can also be assigned to third parties that are not part of the chain through the “electronic transfer of rights”. As a last resort, you can request the printing of the Certification to exercise civil actions (CAC). This document will be printed at the bank branch with a “display code” which will allow its holder or legitimate third party and the commercial courts, to verify the veracity of the same on this website. Payment agreements between parties must be made electronically with the aforementioned alternatives prior to printing the CAC, since once the CAC is printed, the functionalities of electronic return and assignment of rights are disabled.
How do I negotiate an ECHEQ?
Within the platform enabled by financial institutions or managers is the option “Endorsement for Negotiation”. By selecting this option, the ECHEQ enters the stock market through the chosen Financial Market Infrastructure (MFI). MFIs are authorized by the BCRA and the National Securities Commission (CNV) to provide the custody/registration service of ECHEQ.