How Long Is a Check Valid in the Philippines—Six Months or 180 Days?

Short answer

In Philippine banking practice, a check becomes “stale” after six (6) months from the date it bears. Many banks operationalize this as 180 days for uniformity. Either expression points to the same market norm: once the check is over six months old, it is ordinarily refused for clearing. That said, “stale” does not mean “illegal” or “void” in all respects—it primarily affects clearing and the drawee bank’s discretion to honor it.

Legal and regulatory backdrop

1) Negotiable Instruments Law (NIL)

The Philippine Negotiable Instruments Law (Act No. 2031) governs checks as negotiable instruments. The NIL itself does not set a fixed validity period (e.g., 90, 180 days) for presenting checks. Instead, it supplies default rules on presentment, dishonor, notice, and liabilities of parties. Timeliness of presentment affects certain liabilities (e.g., the drawer’s discharge to the extent of loss caused by delay), but the statute stops short of prescribing a hard “expiry date.”

2) Bangko Sentral and clearing practice

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippine Clearing House Corporation (PCHC), and banks’ Terms and Conditions implement the practical rule: checks older than six months are treated as stale and are not accepted for clearing. Banks embed this in their account agreements and operations manuals. In modern operations under the Check Image Clearing System (CICS), “stale” remains a standard exception item.

3) Contractual overlay

When you opened your deposit account, you agreed to the bank’s Terms and Conditions. Those typically state that a check presented beyond six months from its date is stale and may be rejected. This is the immediate basis you will see applied at the branch or during image-clearing.

“Six months” vs “180 days”: is there a difference?

Functional equivalence. Banks will often say “six months” in customer-facing documents yet compute 180 days operationally so that counting is uniform across months of different lengths.
Counting convention. Time is reckoned from the date written on the check (the “date of the instrument”), not the physical hand-off date—subject to special cases below (e.g., post-dated checks).

Practical takeaway: Whether your bank says “six months” or “180 days,” treat them as the same cut-off for clearing. If you are near the line—e.g., day 178-182—expect the bank to apply its internal computation strictly.

What “stale” means (and what it does not)

Not eligible for clearing. A stale check will ordinarily be returned in interbank clearing and not credited through normal channels.
Discretionary over-the-counter honor. The drawee bank (the bank on which the check is drawn) may, at its discretion, still honor a stale check on a case-by-case basis, usually upon the drawer’s confirmation or conversion into a manager’s check. Many banks, however, adopt a strict no-honor policy to control fraud risk.
No automatic extinguishment of the underlying debt. A stale check does not extinguish the obligation it was meant to pay. The payee may demand payment by other means and pursue civil remedies on the underlying transaction.

Special situations

1) Post-dated checks (PDCs)

Start of the six months/180 days: Count from the future date appearing on the check, not from the day it was handed to the payee.
Early presentment: If deposited before its date, the check is typically returned as “post-dated.” Presentment should be on or after the date it bears; the staleness clock starts then.

2) Antedated checks

If a check bears an earlier date than when it was actually issued, the period still counts from that earlier written date. This can inadvertently shorten the window; parties should avoid antedating unless they control for timing.

3) Manager’s and cashier’s checks

Though often perceived as “as good as cash,” banks usually apply the same staleness rule (six months/180 days) to their own issued manager’s/cashier’s checks for clearing purposes, chiefly due to fraud-control standards and reconciliation practices.

4) Government-issued checks and warrants

Certain government checks may carry printed validity advisories (e.g., “valid for X months only”). Honor depends on the issuing agency’s rules and the depository bank’s clearing participation. Always follow the printed instruction if present; otherwise expect the general six-month/180-day rule to apply.

5) Crossed checks vs. bearer/uncrossed

Crossing (drawing two parallel lines or indicating “Account Payee Only”) restricts mode of encashment (deposit to payee’s account) but does not change the staleness period.

Consequences of late presentment

Clearing refusal: The item is returned as stale.
Shift of risks: Under the NIL, late presentment can discharge the drawer to the extent of loss caused by the delay (e.g., if the drawee bank failed in the meantime).
Remedies remain: The payee can still pursue civil collection on the underlying obligation (e.g., action for sum of money), because the debt itself has not prescribed merely due to the check going stale.

Criminal law angles (when relevant)

B.P. Blg. 22 (Bouncing Checks Law). Liability hinges on issuing a worthless check at the time of presentment (e.g., due to insufficiency of funds or account closure), not on staleness per se.
Estafa by post-dating or issuing a bad check (Art. 315(2)(d), Revised Penal Code) applies when deceit and damage elements are present.
A check presented too late (after it goes stale) is generally outside the typical B.P. 22 scenario because the offense focuses on dishonor for insufficient funds, not rejection for staleness. Case-specific facts matter.

Stop-payment orders and timing

Stop-payment is a separate instruction by the drawer telling the bank not to pay a check. Banks commonly treat such orders as time-bound (often effective for six months, renewable), aligning operationally with the staleness window.
If a stop-payment order expires and the check is still within six months/180 days, the bank may honor it absent other red flags.

Business practice tips

Date discipline. Always date checks accurately and avoid antedating to keep the full presentment window intact.
Deposit early. Do not wait until the fifth or sixth month. Present within 30–90 days when possible to minimize disputes.
Approach the cut-off carefully. If you are within days of the six-month/180-day mark, expect rejection in clearing.
For near-stale items:
- Payee: Ask the drawer to reissue (new check) or convert to manager’s check, or pay via funds transfer (PESONet/Instapay).
- Drawer: If reissuing, cancel the old check in writing and update your records; consider a stop-payment on the old instrument.
Government checks: Follow any printed validity instructions; if none, assume the six-month/180-day norm.
Crossed checks: Remember crossing controls how it may be paid (credit to an account) but not how long it remains valid for presentment.

Frequently asked questions

Q1: If a check is 181 days old but the bank’s brochure says “six months,” can I insist on clearing? No. Banks use operational day-counts (often 180 days) to implement “six months.” Either formulation supports return as stale.

Q2: The drawer is willing to pay—can the bank still honor a stale check? The drawee bank may, at its discretion, pay a stale check over the counter upon appropriate verification/indemnity. Many banks decline to minimize risk. The safer route is reissuance or electronic transfer.

Q3: Does staleness cancel the debt? No. Staleness affects clearing; the underlying obligation remains. The payee may demand payment or sue for sum of money subject to ordinary prescriptive periods for actions on written contracts.

Q4: Do manager’s checks expire? They are generally subject to the same staleness treatment for clearing. Some banks accommodate encashment beyond six months internally upon verification, but this is not guaranteed.

Q5: For post-dated checks given for installments, when does the clock start? From the date written on each check. Present each check on or after its date and within six months/180 days thereafter.

Bottom line

In the Philippines, the practical standard is that a check is stale after six months, and banks commonly enforce this as 180 days from the date appearing on the check. The distinction is linguistic, not substantive. Once stale, the check is normally ineligible for clearing, though the underlying obligation survives, and parties can resort to reissuance or alternative payment channels to complete the transaction.