Cheques in the UAE are filled in English on bilingual Arabic/English stationery, dated DD/MM/YYYY, written in dirhams and fils, and normally crossed so they can only be paid into an account. They are valid for six months from the date written on them, and a bank cannot pay a post-dated cheque before that date.
This guide covers how to write one correctly, the UAE Central Bank's cheque book rules, clearing and bounced cheques in brief, and how to set up ChequeMaster for UAE banks.
How cheques are used in the UAE
Cards, bank transfers and instant payments have taken over everyday spending, but cheques still carry a lot of weight in the UAE. Rent is usually paid with a set of post-dated cheques. Car loans, school fees and supplier credit are often backed by dated cheques. Businesses use security cheques in tenders and trade credit, and many still pay suppliers by cheque because the paper trail is clear.
That is why a UAE business can easily have dozens of dated cheques outstanding at once. The legal risk dropped after the 2022 reforms, but the practical risk did not: a forgotten post-dated cheque landing in a thin week still hurts. See how UAE rent cheques work and managing post-dated cheques.
How to write a cheque in the UAE correctly
UAE bank cheques are printed in Arabic and English. You fill in the details in English, which is what businesses normally do and what banks here expect. Whichever language you use, do not mix the two on one cheque.
Date
Write the date as DD/MM/YYYY, for example 15/11/2026. Under the Commercial Transactions Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 50 of 2022, Article 648) a cheque falls due on the date written on it and cannot be presented before that date. Article 649 gives the holder six months from that date to present it. A wrong or unclear date is one of the quickest ways to get a cheque returned.
Amount in dirhams and fils
The dirham has 100 fils, so amounts take two decimals: AED 12,450.75. In words, use the international system (thousand, million), not lakh and crore: "Twelve Thousand Four Hundred Fifty Dirhams and Seventy-Five Fils Only". Start the figures right next to the currency box and close the words with "Only" so nothing can be added. The words and figures must match. See amount-in-words rules or try the amount in words tool.
Payee and crossing
Write the payee's full legal name exactly as it appears on their account. Trade names and abbreviations cause returns. Most UAE business cheques are crossed "A/C Payee" so they can only be paid into the named payee's account. Many UAE cheque books come with the crossing already printed. If yours does not, add it. See what an account payee cheque is.
Signature
Sign the same way as the specimen your bank holds, and follow the account mandate (single or joint signatories). A signature mismatch is a "technical" return. The National reported in November 2025 that a signature rejection does not count against your Al Etihad Credit Bureau score the way an insufficient-funds return does. It still delays payment and annoys the payee, though. Do not overwrite or correct anything on the face of the cheque. Write a new one instead.
UAE Central Bank cheque book rules
In a circular announced on 10 December 2018, the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) told banks to:
- Run a credit check first. Banks must check a customer's creditworthiness with the Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB) before issuing a cheque book.
- Limit new customers to 10 leaves. A new customer's first cheque book can hold at most 10 cheques. More books may follow after six months, as long as no cheques have been returned unpaid.
- Warn customers about bounces. Cheques returned for insufficient funds are recorded with the AECB and lower the customer's credit score.
As of October 2026 we found no published CBUAE notice replacing this circular, and the AECB still records bounced cheques. The 2022 law adds a statutory duty: Article 648 of the Commercial Transactions Law requires the bank to report the account holder to the Central Bank when a cheque is returned for insufficient funds or only partly paid. Individual banks may apply stricter internal limits, so ask yours if a cheque book request is refused or capped.
Post-dated cheques, clearing and validity
Because a UAE cheque cannot be presented before its date, a post-dated cheque is just a cheque that waits. The payee deposits it on or after the date. Clearing goes through the CBUAE's Image Cheque Clearing System (ICCS), and a cheque deposited before the bank's morning cut-off usually clears the same business day. Details are in how cheque clearing works in the UAE.
A cheque presented more than six months after its date is past the presentment period. Ask for a fresh cheque rather than risk a return. See cheque validity.
If a cheque bounces
Since 2 January 2022, a cheque returned for insufficient funds is mainly a civil matter. The bank must pay out whatever funds are available if the holder accepts a partial payment. The returned cheque is an executory instrument, so the holder can go straight to the execution court without a full lawsuit. Bad-faith acts are still crimes, for example closing the account, stopping payment without a lawful reason, or deliberately signing so the cheque fails. The full picture is in UAE cheque bounce law, and the commonest causes are in why cheques bounce.
Pre-added UAE bank layouts
ChequeMaster is not limited to these banks. It works with any bank's cheque, in any country. The layouts below are simply the UAE bank layouts that come pre-added, so you can start printing without any setup. For any other bank, build a layout from a scan of a blank leaf in a few minutes, and add as many banks and layouts as you need.
These UAE bank layouts are pre-added:
- Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (two layouts)
- ADCB Islamic
- Al Khaliji
- Arab Bank
- Dubai Islamic Bank
- Emirates Islamic Bank
- Emirates NBD
- First Abu Dhabi Bank
- Habib Bank AG Zurich
UAE cheques are not all the same size, and a shared size never means a shared layout. Some practical notes:
- ADCB has two layouts because the bank has issued more than one stationery design. If the first puts fields slightly off, try the second before you edit anything.
- ADCB Islamic and Emirates Islamic are separate cheques from ADCB and Emirates NBD, even though the groups are related. Create each account under its own bank so the right layout shows up.
- Arab Bank and Al Khaliji are the same size with different field positions. Pick by bank, not by paper size.
- Arab Bank's layout does not print a crossing, because the stationery often has one printed already. Check your book.
- Dubai Islamic Bank is one of the few Gulf layouts with a bearer line. If you always issue crossed cheques, set A/C Payee text as the cheque book default and leave Bearer text off.
- First Abu Dhabi Bank's cheque is compact. Drop the amount-in-words font a size so long amounts wrap neatly onto the second line.
For a bank that is not in this list, build the layout yourself from a scan of a blank leaf. See creating a cheque layout.
Setting up ChequeMaster for the UAE
- Currency. Choose AED as the default currency at installation, or set it later in settings.
- Decimals and words. Use two decimals and the million/billion words system, and choose UPPERCASE or normal case to suit your bank. Turn on the tamper-proof ** guards around the amount if you want them.
- Date format. Set DD/MM/YYYY.
- Cheque book. Add the bank account, create a cheque book with the matching bank layout and the number range from the physical book, and set A/C Payee text as the default crossing. See how to create a cheque book.
- Test print. Print one cheque on plain A4 and hold it against a real leaf up to the light. If everything is shifted the same way, adjust the top and left margins. If single fields are off, you picked the wrong layout. See fixing alignment.
ChequeMaster prints in English, which is how UAE cheques are filled in. It does not print Arabic. It records every cheque against its number, and the dashboard lets you filter post-dated cheques still marked Issued. Licence options are on the pricing page.
