Starting today regulations are in effect to standardize the issuance and circulation of bank checks.
From a statement issued by the National Bank of Panama:
We wish inform you that as of February 1, 2016, agreements No. 001-2014 of 18 March 2014 and No 010-2014 of October 14, 2014, issued by the Superintendency of Banks of Panama are in effect, which establishes standardization of check designs in Panama, with the introduction of new features that enable more security in these transactions. In addition security features for fraud detection are integrated.
As announced in March, starting January 2015 the number of formats of checks in circulation in the country will be reduced from 800 to 5.
From a statement issued by the Association of Private Banks of Nicaragua (ASOBANP):
The Private Banks Association of Nicaragua (ASOBANP) today invited clients of the entities which are members to approach the nearest branch of their bank before December 31, 2014 in order to upgrade their checkbooks, to ensure greater security for checks.
The Superintendency of Banks is preparing regulatory changes in order to reduce the time it takes to clear a check from three days to just one.
The rules that the regulator has proposed in Agreement 1-2014, issued in March, aims to improve safety and modernize the means of payment of the country, punctually, standardizing checks circulating in the Panamanian financial center.
Starting in January 2009, credit cooperatives and federation will be able to issue credit cards and checkbooks with the approval of the Financial System Superintendence.
The Legislative Assembly, in full session, approved the observations that the President of the Republic, Elías Antonio Saca, made to the Law of Non-bank Financial Intermediaries.
They also gave 30 days for those entities interested in offering those services to present all documentation and other requirements in order function.