Do you use a checkbook, Kapamilya? Then this news is for you. Starting May 1, Philippine banks will be implementing a new format for checks, according to the Philippine Clearing House Corporation. 

"Simula May 1 ang mga bangko ay hindi na tatanggap ng old format checks," Philippine Clearing House Corporation president Emmanuel Barcena said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview. 

He said that under the old design, there was no standard format for dates on checks, which meant that some wrote out the dates in words, some had month-date-year or date-month-year as format. 

Under the new Philippine standard, all checks will have boxes indicating the new standard for dates: month, date and year, similar to the standard used for Philippine passports. 

There is also no need to put the peso sign in the amount in figures since it will be placed outside the box. 

Barcena said optical character recognition allows machines to capture all necessary data on bank checks.

He urged checkbook owners with the old format to get replacements with the new design.

Checks with the old design can still be used, he said, but only through over-the-counter transactions with the issuing bank, and not via the clearing house.

For those who issued post-dated checks, these must be submitted to the issuing bank so it can be stamped as "warehouse check."

"Ibig sabihin nun, kailangan po ang bangko po ang magtago nun kasi tatatakan po nila 'yun at kapag nakita nang ibang bangko 'yun na may warehouse, tatanggapin pa rin nila 'yun," he said.

Barcena said the new check formats were first cleared in 2019 with implementation date on 2022. The implementation, however, was extended for 2 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.