A check is an important financial document that orders the bank to pay a particular amount from the bank holder’s account. It can be issued in a person’s name, company’s name. Financial experts say that a check is used to make safe and secure payments between two parties.
Where to Cash Personal Checks?
If you have received a work payment or banker’s draft, you may want to know where to cash it. The best places to cash personal check are the issuing bank, credit union, or a local bank. Large payment orders can be cashed at banks because they offer higher cashing limits on checks.
Though their use has reduced in the digital payments age, they are still being used by people and business organizations for large financial transactions. It has several vital components, and even if one component is wrong, the bank will not allow encashment of the check. Here are the important components you should know.
Your Information
In the upper left corner of the check, you will see the account holder’s name and address on file with the bank. If you have relocated to a different place in the city, you should update your communication address with the bank. However, you can also use it with the old address, provided the account number has not changed.
One reason to update the communication address with the bank is that the bank will send a new checkbook to the communication address.
Check Number
you can find the serial number at the top and bottom right corner. The serial number is used to track your payment. If any check leaves have been stolen from your checkbook, you need to notify the serial numbers to the bank, and they will ensure the stolen checks are rendered useless.
The Date
The Date field is located on the top right corner, just below the serial number. You can issue a post-dated check to an individual or organization. The recipient can take it to any of the best places to cash a personal check mentioned above. However, the funds will be released by your bank after the date mentioned on the payment order.
The Recipient Name
It has a long, empty line preceded by “Pay to the order of.” You need to fill in the recipient’s name in the blank line. The recipient can be an individual or a business entity. You can also mention “Cash” in the recipient name field. Such an option can be used when you don’t know the recipient’s name. In that case, anyone having the payment order can cash it in a local bank.
The Payment Amount
Next, you must mention the payment amount in the payment order to the bank. There is a special box to write this amount in. Besides mentioning the payment amount in digits, you also have to write it in words.
Routing and Account Numbers
At the bottom, you have a string of numbers. The first set of numbers is the routing number, and the second set of numbers is your account number.
Signature
It is the most critical component of any personal check. Without a signature, the check is useless. You also need to ensure that the signature on the check matches the signature in the bank records.
To sum up, these are the essential components of a personal check that you should know.
