A Crédit Agricole spokesman said: "This dates to an old French banking law, which defines what a cheque is - a piece of paper with seven pieces of information, including the place where it was signed. It is not legally a cheque without it."

The other points are: the word chèque, an order to pay a given sum, the name of the person who will pay, the place where the money will come from (ie. details of payer's bank), the date and a signature.