Cheque warning from Banking Ombudsman

The Banking Ombudsman has warned people using cheques to cross them correctly to make sure they go to the intended recipient.

Ombudsman Deborah Battell said merely marking a cheque "not negotiable" by crossing it, or crossing out the "or bearer" option was not enough.

Instead, cheque writers should write either "account payee only" or "not transferable" to ensure it went into the account intended.