A Novelty in Turkish Commercial Life: Execution of QR-Code on Cheques

Cheque is an important payment instrument in commercial life. Regulations on cheques, which have a very common application in Turkish law, are included in Articles between 780 and 823 of the Turkish Commercial Code (TCC) No. 6102 and in the Cheque Act No. 5941. Law No. 6728 dated July 15, 2016 have introduced significant changes and novelties in the regulations related to the cheques in both laws. In the preamble of the law, it has stated that these changes were the result of the necessity of introducing new regulations for the purposes of a) the speed and security requirements that cheques necessitate, b) widespread payment by cheque, c) the foundation of cheque holders' protection due to the increase in bounced cheque. Among the most important of these changes is that the QR-Code and serial number are accepted as a compulsory form requirement for the validity of cheques. In this study, the detection of novelties related to the QR-Code application expected to give functionality to the cheques and the effects of these regulations are discussed. The QR-Code application is a convenient method to ensure the tracing of the cheques and applicability of statutory regulations on cheques. According to the general acceptance in Turkish law, bills of exchange are bills, notes and cheques. These bills of exchange have the ability of negotiability and public security in the case of the qualification of the promissory notes or bearer cheques. Furthermore, the introduction of the QR-Code application on the one hand and the criminal arrangements envisaged in the case of bounced cheques, on the other hand, have led to reaching its final point of the security in terms of cheques. Although cheques are a payment instrument by its qualification, it is also used as a credit instrument due to the possibility of arranging the postdated cheque in Turkish trade practice. Making special arrangements in order to ensure particular protection for the cheque and attractiveness of the cheque have become inevitable in this situation. The risk of bounced cheques in practice is significantly reduced with the aim of protecting the cheque holders prescribed by the amendments.