Bank and cashier checks: how to cash, cancel and avoid fraud

Checkbooks are very popular in the USA, but our immigrants quite often have a lot of questions in this or that situation, since at home this form of payment is not very common. One of the most common problems that our people in the USA face is cancellation of a check. Edition GoBankingRates told how, using 6 steps, you can cancel a check already written.

Фото: Depositphotos

Request to stop payment is easy to do. And the steps for this are usually the same for all financial institutions.

1. Decide whether to cancel the check. Before canceling it, you must clearly understand why you are performing this action, as most accounts will be charged for stopping payments. Are you close enough to the recipient of your check so that you can ask him not to cash the check and not destroy it? Could you ask the company you pay by check not to process it? Or, if you have lost a check, you might be better off spending a day looking for it than spending a commission on a stop payment.

2. Make sure the check is not cashed. If the operation has already been completed, then canceling the check or stopping the payment will not bring you any benefit. Time is the main factor in this action, because you need to give the bank enough time to process the stop payment on the check.

3. Gather all the necessary information. If you want to stop paying for the check you wrote, you must indicate the name of the recipient, check, account number, check number, date of check and amount in dollars at your financial institution.

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4. Contact your bank. To answer your request as soon as possible, you can call your bank, visit the website of your bank or visit the physical department.

5. Commission for stop payment. Most banks charge a fee for stop payments, depending on the level of your account. You must pay for the service to complete the process, so do not delay making a fee.

6. Pay attention to the expiration date in the stop payment order. The stop payment order will be valid for six months. This term is set by most financial institutions.

How much does check cancellation cost

The stop payment fee depends not only on your bank, but also on the type / level of your bank account. For example, if you have a bank account called Advantage Relationship Bank of America, which is a higher level bank account, you will not pay a fee for canceling a check.

While some accounts may have benefits, but most banks charge a fee for this service. The average cost to cancel a check will cost you $ 30.

How much time do you have to cancel a check

If you want the recipient not to cash the check, it is advisable to cancel it as soon as possible. Keep in mind that the bank needs at least one full day to complete this procedure.

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Can you cancel a cash receipt

Although you do not have the right to stop the payment by cash receipt, since this is a purchased banking product received from the bank, and not your account, you can fill out the official declaration form if the cash receipt was lost, stolen or destroyed. Just enter the account number of the cashier's check or certified check, the date of issue, the amount of the check and to whom it was issued.

What to do if you were given a fake check

Detecting fraudulent checks can take weeks, but banks show available funds from the deposited check within a few days. This means that you can spend your deposited funds from a cashed check, but later you will be asked to return this amount to your bank.

If you are afraid that a fraudulent check cleared your account, do not spend money and as soon as possible contact your bank in person or by phone.

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