Kenya: The new cheque truncation system relies on effient internet data transimission

The cheque truncation system which went live on Monday has been picking up but slow data transmission speeds have threatened to stall the initiative.
A statement from the Kenya Bankers Association said some banks have been experiencing challenges on the communications link. This has led to delays in finalising transmission to the Automated Clearing House.
The new cheque system relies on a strong and reliable telecommunication network as physical cheques presented for payment in a bank will have to be converted to electronic form and the image transmitted electronically to the clearing house. "The Wide Area Network provider was busy resolving the communication issues by last evening and we expect the second day to show some improvements."said Habil Oolaka, KBA CEO in a statement.

Safaricom was awarded a five year contract to provide data services for the cheque truncation system which relies on efficient telecommunication services. The single service is tasked with connecting all 42 commercial banks and the Central Bank with high capacity Wide Area Network links .
By the second day , KBA says , it had processed 49,612 cheques on the new CTS against 69,674 processed in the existing clearing house which is approximately 71 per cent of the volume expected. KBA said 95 per cent of the new design cheque books had already been printed for issuing and were available for use, which helped avoid delay once a customer placed an order.