My bank tells me to destroy it when they notify me that the mobile deposit has been accepted.
Some banks use a third party to service the ATMs and they do some of the processing, apparently.
True story: One Friday in 2008, I had a large expense check for several $K. This was before phone deposits, of course, so I went to a drive-up ATM. I got to the point where it wanted me to insert the check and realized I hadn’t signed it. Since it was for so much, I figured I probably should, just to avoid hassles. So I grabbed a pen, signed it, and…just as I inserted it into the slot, the ATM timed out.
Here’s what was weird: the mechanism had detected the check and started running, so it sucked in the check and said “timed out” and ended the session! Dumbfounded, I parked and went into the branch. The manager had never heard of this, and suggested that it would probably turn up, since I had put the account number on the back as well.
It did not. On Tuesday I returned and talked to the same manager, who remembered me. She asked me to call her the next day, which I did; she said they’d done a search and there were NO checks for that precise amount processed since Friday. She also told me that a third party was responsible for removing checks from their ATMs, and that they would check them against the ledger to make sure the amounts matched (of course someone had to, so you didn’t deposit a $100 check and claim it was $10,000; I imagine this is automated today).
Her assumption was that they had found this check with no provenance–since the transaction was cancelled–and just shredded it. Fortunately my company was small and had no problem reissuing the check, so it all worked out OK.
That also happened to be the weekend that Wachovia melted down and sold out to Wells Fargo, although I doubt this had anything to do with what happened. I did notice that the staff were in somewhat of a tizzy when I went back on Tuesday!
ETA: I tried to repeat this several times, with MUCH smaller checks, and was unable to. So it was either a super-narrow window, a malfunction, or it happened to get fixed shortly after my incident.
I have on occasion deposited a handwritten check and had the ATM tell me it could not read the amount and asked me to type it in. I’m sure those are flagged and they verify the amount.
Just be a total Luddite like me and figure out what bank the check is drawn upon. Go inside that bank and ask that they pay it in cash. If you need money in your account, deposit cash with a human teller at your bank. That way it is available rather quickly. I do this even if the check is drawn upon the same bank that I have an account with.
This probably only works for me because I like going to the bank. I am always asking the tellers if they have any cool coins or old currency they want to sell.
I take it you live in a small town.
The vast majority of the few paper checks I receive are from corporations and are drawn on banks halfway across the country.
At least around here if I try to do any transaction with a brand of bank where I don’t have an account I’m turned away. The assumption is that anyone walking into e.g. Bank of America who doesn’t have an account with BofA somewhere is trying to perpetrate some sort of scam against them.
So we are sure that they are not all interconnected with pneumatic tubes?
Also note that when a bank says that funds are available in your account is not when they’re actually available in your account.
You might get them to do it - but they don’t have to. Even 40 years ago when I worked at a bank , we would not cash checks for non-customers with one exception. We would cash a payroll check if your employer paid for that service.
Correct. The bank does not have to do anything they don’t want to do. You may be cashing a check drawn upon that bank but if you don’t have an account there you are not that bank’s customer. Your relationship is with the person that negotiated the check to you. If the bank refuses to cash a check your recourse is to go back to the person that negotiated the check to you and tell them you didn’t get paid. Same thing if they want to charge you a fee. If you don’t like it, go back to the person that gave you the check and demand reimbursement.
What if they tell you to buzz off? They already paid you and as far as they are concerned, the transaction is over. You can’t demand anything from them.
Sorry wrong thread
If the check is not paid then they didn’t pay you.
Getting back to the OP, it’s all about the Check 21 Act. Here is a link to get started if you are interested - Check 21 Act - Wikipedia
My landlord use to be bothered by me trying to give her an out-of-town check. I finally convinced her that there really isn’t such a thing as an out-of-town check anymore. That makes about as much sense as a long distance phone call.
Yeah, effectively it doesn’t matter. It used to be that an out of town check would take a couple of extra days to clear but now it’s on the phone and it’s all the same as far as I can tell. I remember when supermarkets would only accept local checks which I think meant in the same city.
My 90 year old stepmom still sends me a birthday check which is about the only one I get anymore. Everything goes directly into my account via Zelle or into Venmo or something.
Yes, when I worked in a bank a long time ago, cashing checks for non-customers was routine, but we didn’t have to. It was among the more common ways we’d encounter fraud, so there were multiple steps to verify it, ultimately if it’s above a certain amount we’d have to call the account holder to make sure it was real. Sometimes we couldn’t so had to tell them to come back, get an alternative, or deposit in their own account. This is about the time that fraudsters would get belligerent in the hopes that the bank would fold and just do it, but there were protocols to avoid that.
And it usually cost (at the time) $5. Exceptions included e.g. Target, who paid for their employees to cash it free and also attached a note in the computer system indicating the person’s name it was paid to.
Which bank is saying this? I have relationship with several banks and they actually show two balances when there is a deposit that is pending (via a check or otherwise) and it will clearly state total balance and balance available.
//i\\
All banks: Under banking laws, a check can bounce months after the funds “become available”.