CDF Sydney to Withdraw Cheque Book Issuance
Cheque usage in Australia has rapidly declined, with only 7% of payments made by cheque in 2020 compared to 69% in 1995. In contrast, electronic fund transfer usage has increased dramatically, accounting for 68% of non-cash payments in 2020 compared to 12% in 1995. Furthermore, since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020, the percentage of payments made by cheque has even further declined.
The Commbank is already well advanced in its transition from cheques to alternative means. From June 2023, the Commbank will no longer issue new cheque books.
Therefore, there is now an urgent need for the Catholic Development Fund, Sydney (CDF) and especially our clients to commence our own transition to avoid business disruption as the support network for cheques continues its decline.
The CDF already offers safer, faster, more efficient, and reliable alternatives for making payments, including:
- Direct Credit/Electronic Funds Transfers (EFT) via CDF Online
- BPAY Bill Payments via CDF Online
- Commbank Mastercard Charge Card
We wish to advise from 1st January 2024, the CDF will no longer be issuing cheque book/forms on existing or new current accounts.
We are therefore encouraging our clients to start the transition to alternative payment methods as soon as possible, especially if you currently use the Commbank’s encashment arrangements for cashing cheques at Commbank branches. Many of our clients are already finding these arrangements more difficult and unreliable as the Commbank reduces its service for cheques. The matters of security and personal safety should also be a consideration when cheques are being exchanged for cash.
A safer and more efficient alternative to cashing cheques at Commbank branches for the purposes of petty cash or cash floats, is to engage a third-party cash provider and/or issuing a Commbank Mastercard Charge Card to individuals with cash access to the Commbank’s ATM network.
Should you have concerns or queries on how to commence the transition to alternative payment options, or wish to discuss the options available, please contact the CDF on (02) 9390 5200 or via email [email protected]
Account Number Changes
As a result of the July 2021 upgrade to the CDF operating system, all CDF customers have a new account number available to use for electronic transactions. We would encourage you to advise third parties (using other financial institutions) who pay you money or debit your account, your new account number details over the next 6 to 12 months. Your new number is published on your CDF Online under the ‘BSB Information’ page.
Please note that inward payments bearing the old (converted) account number from third party non-CDF payers will continue to work however we would encourage you to use every opportunity to advise your third party payers of your new account number over the next 6 to 12 months. Additionally, CDF deposit books and cheque books are NOT impacted by this change.
CDF Online Payments to other CDF Customers (by way of batch payment eg. creditor payments)
CDF Online no longer accepts an old ‘converted number’. A converted number for say 6123 S50.1 is 61235001. Rather CDF Online now only allows outward payments using the new account number (eg 100004567) which is published on each client’s CDF Online under the ‘BSB Information’ page under the ‘Help’ button.
If you currently make payments to other CDF customers using the old ‘converted number’ you need to:
- Contact your creditor/payee and gain their new account number which is available to them on their CDF online access
- Amend any existing Address Book account information for your creditor/payee
- If you have the old ‘converted number’ stored in your accounting software which creates an ABA file for upload, you will need to amend the account number prior to your next upload.
CDF Online Direct Debiting other CDF Customers (by way of batch and single payment eg. Aged care residents)
If you currently use CDF Online to debit other CDF customers and credit your own account using a batch you don’t need to do anything as existing account details will continue to work. However, for future reference, you should start updating any existing Address Book account information on CDF Online for your CDF customer/debtor with their new account details.
If you are currently use CDF Online to debit other CDF customers and credit your own account using a single payment/future payment option you need to:
- Amend any existing Address Book account information on CDF Online for your CDF customer/debtor with their new account detail
- Delete any existing single payment/future payments
- Create a new single payment/future payment using the new account details in the Address Book
It should also be noted that CDF Online Users with Data Entry access only were previously able to authorise Direct Debit batches (debiting third party accounts). Following the upgrade Data Entry Users will need to store the transaction to be authorised by an authorised person or persons in accordance with your account authority.
CDF Online Access
It is important to note that the internet URL link to CDF Online changed from Saturday 17th July 2021 and therefore access to CDF Online is only be available from the new URL link.
The new URL link to CDF Online from Saturday 17th July 2021 is:
https://cdfonline.org.au/u5sydney/signon/login.aspx
However the best way of accessing CDF Online will continue to be the link on the top right hand side of the CDF website www.sydneycdf.org.au If you currently access CDF Online this way, then you will not be affected by this change.
However if you access the CDF Online log in page directly from your favourites, bookmark or a saved desktop link then you will need to update those links with the new URL above.
If you have any queries regarding any of these changes, please do not hesitate to contact us via [email protected] and we will respond to your query within 48 hours.
We wish to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support and patience through this transition