CIBC’s Hold Policy is guided by the regulatory requirements set out in the Bank Act and the rules involving the cheque clearing system established by the Canadian Payments Association (CPA). The term “cheque” refers to paper-based cheques and other instruments such as certified cheques, bank drafts, and money orders.
When you deposit a cheque into your account, a hold period may apply to allow time for the cheque to clear. The funds will appear in your account at the time of deposit, but you may not be able to access all of the funds until the hold period expires. The day the of deposit and hold period expiry are based on the location of the banking centre of your account (not local time where the deposit was made). Holding funds allows time for the cheque to clear, protecting clients and CIBC from any potential losses, fraud and insufficient funds.
Even after the hold period expires, there is no guarantee that a cheque will not be returned to us unpaid. If a cheque is returned unpaid for any reason at any time, either during or after the expiry of the hold period, CIBC has the right to charge the amount of the cheque to your account.
Review the following documents to learn more about the CIBC Hold Policy:
There are certain limits on your account that define the amount of funds you will have access to until the hold period expires on your deposit, known as Access to Deposited Funds Limits. These limits apply to cheque deposits you make in a banking centre, digitally using eDeposit, at a CIBC ATM in Canada or any other way. They help to protect our clients and CIBC from potential loss.
To learn about your Access to Deposited Funds Limits and hold periods, contact us.
To avoid unnecessary holds being placed on cheques deposited, refer to the frequently asked questions below.
Frequently asked questions
Check your account details by following these simple steps:
Sign on to CIBC Online Banking®, select “My Accounts.” Here, you will find a list of your accounts along with the balances of each one. If you want more details, including a list of transactions, select the account you want to check the Balance and Available Funds.
Sign on to your CIBC Mobile Banking® App, select “My Accounts” to display your most recent transactions. Under the Available funds section, you can check your Balance and Funds on Hold.
When you make a deposit to your personal deposit account(s), a fixed waiting period may apply before all the funds are made available to you. Your funds could also be on hold because of a recent deposit that exceeds your Access to Deposited Funds Limit.
Your Access to Deposited Funds Limit is the amount of funds available to you right away when you make a deposit. This limit is set when the account is opened. You may apply for an increase to your Access to Deposited Funds Limit by contacting us.
A hold may apply to deposits made by cheque, certified cheque, bank draft, money order, or other instruments.
Typically, cash or funds from direct deposits (such as payroll direct deposits), Interac e-Transfer® transactions, electronic transfer of funds (EFT), and Government of Canada cheques up to $1,750 deposited and validated at the banking centre are not placed on hold.
The length of the hold period for cheques deposited, depends on the currency, amount and other factors.
Deposited instrument is stale-dated (which means the cheque is dated more than 6 months)
The cheque:
Is not encoded with magnetic ink character recognition or is not readable by operational systems (for example, if damaged or mutilated)
Has been endorsed more than once
Is deposited six months or more after the date of the cheque
The hold period under these circumstances is estimated to be a minimum of 30 business days and could be longer for non-CDN$ cheques drawn on a financial institution located outside of Canada.
