Commercial Bank International (CBI) Cheque Printing

Tall for its width

Put a CBI leaf next to an Emirates Islamic one and you see it: both are about 97 to 99 mm tall, but the CBI cheque is 178 mm wide against 206 mm. The ruled lines are therefore shorter and stacked with more space between them than on a wide cheque.

The practical consequence is vertical, not horizontal. Field positions borrowed from a wide cheque land roughly right across the page and wrong down it, which is the error that makes people think the software is broken when it is simply set to the wrong bank.

CBI is not CBD

Commercial Bank International is CBI. Commercial Bank of Dubai is CBD. Two banks, two stationeries, abbreviations one letter apart — and the most common wrong selection we see on either. Read the full bank name printed on your cheque before you choose. More on the distinction in the CBD guide.

Printing on a CBI cheque

Four text fields: date, payee, amount in words, amount in figures. The software only prints the text fields onto the cheque CBI issued you — nothing is reproduced, and the magnetic band is the bank's own. A plain laser printer taking one leaf from the manual tray is all the hardware involved.

Because the words rule is shorter on a 178 mm leaf, long figures wrap to the second line sooner than on a wide cheque. The second line position is part of the stored layout, so it stays clear of the signature. Check any figure's wording with the AED to words converter before you print.

Questions we get asked

Related guides

• → CBD cheque printing
• → Emirates NBD cheque printing
• → UAE bank cheque library
• → Every UAE bank cheque we have measured