Many people find it difficult to find their way around the many notions surrounding the check: check endorsed, paid, crossed out… This confusion is fueled by banking establishments that do not always use the correct terms themselves. What is the difference between cashing and endorsing a check? How to endorse a check correctly? Answers!
What does it mean to “ endorse a check”?
What is the definition behind the action of “endorsing” a check? Why endorse a cheque? The fact of signing a check on the back can actually mean two things (depending on any other mentions affixed), namely:
- Its collection by the bearer, the only possibility when the check is said to be “crossed out” (that is to say that the amount is crossed out by two parallel lines);
- Its endorsement is only possible if the check is “uncrossed”. Not all checks are “endorsable”. They are so only in the absence of these two lines.
The fact of endorsing an insurance check means that it is transmitted to a third person who is not on the order of the check. The signature is therefore in this case qualified as “endorsement”.
In the collective imagination, endorsing a check amounts to cashing it on one’s behalf. This confusion is common.
Signing a check on the back gives it the quality of “paid”. However, this does not necessarily amount to its collection by the bearer paid in this way, but it simply means that the debtor (the person who wrote the check) is indeed released from his debt.
The endorsement of a check is therefore only possible if it is not crossed out, which is increasingly rare today since almost all checks are crossed out and therefore cannot be endorsed. . It is therefore almost impossible today to transfer ownership of a check to a third party.
How to endorse a check?
In general, signing on the back of bank check amounts, for the bearer, to cashing it himself, when he wishes to credit the sum to his account. Here is what to write behind a check to endorse it, that is to say, to be able to transmit it:
- The particular mention “endorsed to the order of “, knowing that in the absence of identification of a third party, the check becomes “bearer” and anyone can cash it or transmit it thereafter,
- today’s date,
- A signature .
As a reminder, a signature on the back of a crossed-out check that cannot be endorsed corresponds to the “acknowledgment”, which means that the debtor has indeed paid and that his debt is extinguished unless the check is returned unpaid.
An uncrossed check may be endorsed several times. The bearer of the check wishing to cash it will only have to sign it, write their account number on the back and bring it to their bank or send it by post (for online banks in particular). The transfer of funds will then be credited to the account of the person cashing it, within a longer or shorter period depending on their banking institution.
Finally, it should be noted that before accepting a check already endorsed or not, we can only advise you to check that it is correctly completed: sum in figures and in words, date, signature, etc.
With the emergence of online banks, it is now often faster to endorse a check since the procedures can be done directly from its application. On the other hand, it will be advisable a second time to send by mail the original proof. If you are not familiar with these establishments, use our comparator and access all the offers and services offered by these neo-banks!
Can a crossed check be endorsed?
One point is very important to remember when you want to transfer the ownership of a check to a third party as a means of payment (or for another reason): whether it is endorsable or not. In reality, very few checks are. When the debtor, that is to say, the “drawer” of the check, gives it to his creditor, and the latter signs it, the check is said to be paid. The debt is extinguished when the check is cashed (and does not come back unpaid).
If the holder wishes to endorse it, he must ensure that the check is valid, that it is not crossed out, that is to say, that it is free from the two small parallel lines printed across the amount.
Crossed checks are by far the most common. Few are those who are not: the banks do not give (almost) more.
In the absence of the 2 lines, the check can be endorsed if the mention that we have seen above is correctly written on the back. The designation of a third-party beneficiary is not mandatory. In the absence of such identification, the check will be the bearer, which is clearly not advisable (in case of loss of the check-in particular).
Why endorse a check for the benefit of a third party?
It makes sense to wonder what the point might be of endorsing a check in someone else’s name. The reasons that can justify the endorsement of a bank check are in fact multiple: payment from a third party (who is not on the order of the check), “donation” of the sum to a relative…
The fact to endorse a check “not in his name” amounts, to the endorser (the one for whom it was originally intended) to transfer the ownership of it to the endorsee (the one who receives it). The latter therefore acquires the right to collect the corresponding sum or to endorse it in turn.
In principle, an uncrossed check can also be presented by its bearer at the counter of the issuing bank in order to be issued the sum in cash.
Can a bank check be endorsed?
A bank check is a more secure check than its “classic” counterpart. It is issued by the debtor’s bank, often when the debtor needs to assure the creditor that he has the funds in his account (for the purchase of a vehicle, for example, when the seller requests a check guaranteed).
The bank check is therefore most often used for large sums. The law does not set a minimum amount or a maximum amount to request one from your agency. Banks have therefore set their own limits.
The cashier’s check is chargeable to the applicant. It usually costs about fifteen euros. This amount varies depending on the bank. On the other hand, it is (almost) never free.
The interest of the bank check is that the issuing bank guarantees the sum, and this for 1 year and 8 days. The creditor, therefore, ensures that he will be well honored if he collects it himself. The cashing procedure is the same as for a classic check. A bank check, on the other hand, is in principle not endorsable. The bearer will therefore not be able to transfer it, he will have only one option: to collect it on his own behalf.
