# Do I really need to write out the value on a check? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221 "2012-02-28T03:47:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/21 "2012-02-28T15:30:14Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > Yes - write me that check and I will put a tiny L on that first one and make it a 4. > > When they differ - they are supposed to use the wrtten amount. Not sure if they would take it or not. My guess is if it was for 13.87 - they would let it slide, but for 1387 or 4387 - they would not. _Teacher: That ‘9’ there looks like a ‘7’. Student: That’s a ‘1’._ > [@zombywoof](#): > > I do understand the written value is supposed to be for protection against that sort of fraud, and should have stipulated in my example that I’m giving the check to a trusted party (which is almost always the case when I do actually use written checks anymore). This trusted party - does his bookie cash cheques? > [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I learned how to write out checks from my dad, and he was rather meticulous and would always write out: & [sup]oo[/sup]/1oo when it was an even dollar amount (i.e. no cents.) I was probably almost thirty before I realized you didn’t have to write the zero fraction part down _at all_ when there were no pennies… :smack: You mean you don’t have to? I’ve been wasting time writing xx/100 for 40 years??? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/22 "2012-02-28T15:48:42Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > You mean you don’t have to? I’ve been wasting time writing xx/100 for 40 years??? You don’t _have_ to do half the stuff you do on a check. The point of writing it in is to make it harder for someone to insert more words on the line. Some people write “only” at the end of the amount, whatever it is. My mother writes “XX dollars and XX cents” and then crosses out the “dollars” that’s preprinted at the end of the line. I don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/23 "2012-02-28T16:53:58Z")
Another little known fact about checks that I found out inadvertently. If you forget to sign the check, and if the bank teller depositing the check neglects to notice this and accepts the check, it will sail thru the rest of the system with no problem. Proved this more than once. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/24 "2012-02-28T17:40:49Z")
I’ve had cases where, even though I wrote the check for rent for say, $500, I got $600 taken from my account. I complained to the bank and pointed out that I had indeed written “five hundred” in the line below, and would they please credit me back my $100. My guess is that the automatic scanner decided my 5 looked like a 6, and of course the person from the rental company who deposited the money didn’t care for an extra $100 in their favor. So that’s why I keep writing the whole series out. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/25 "2012-02-28T17:59:12Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > Yes - write me that check and I will put a tiny L on that first one and make it a 4. > > When they differ - they are supposed to use the wrtten amount. Not sure if they would take it or not. My guess is if it was for 13.87 - they would let it slide, but for 1387 or 4387 - they would not. I worked in payment processing for a while, and our policy was to reject cheques where the amounts didn’t match. People processing your cheques aren’t supposed to guess what amount you want taken out of your account. 🙂 > [@zombywoof](#): > > I do understand the written value is supposed to be for protection against that sort of fraud, and should have stipulated in my example that I’m giving the check to a trusted party (which is almost always the case when I do actually use written checks anymore). And after your trusted party cashes the cheque, there are any number of peons who process it, and all of them have to be trusted as well. > [@KarlGrenze](#): > > I’ve had cases where, even though I wrote the check for rent for say, $500, I got $600 taken from my account. > > I complained to the bank and pointed out that I had indeed written “five hundred” in the line below, and would they please credit me back my $100. My guess is that the automatic scanner decided my 5 looked like a 6, and of course the person from the rental company who deposited the money didn’t care for an extra $100 in their favor. > > So that’s why I keep writing the whole series out. Exactly - a cheque is a legal document, and the less ambiguity, the better. ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/26 "2012-02-28T18:51:42Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Screw that, I’d add a 1 in front and make it for eleven thousand. I’d add a 9 and make it for $91,387.14… ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/27 "2012-02-28T19:12:48Z")
Well, that’s just being greedy ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/28 "2012-02-28T19:42:35Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > I’ve had cases where, even though I wrote the check for rent for say, $500, I got $600 taken from my account. > > I complained to the bank and pointed out that I had indeed written “five hundred” in the line below, and would they please credit me back my $100. My guess is that the automatic scanner decided my 5 looked like a 6, and of course the person from the rental company who deposited the money didn’t care for an extra $100 in their favor. > > So that’s why I keep writing the whole series out. Happened to me once, with a check I wrote to pay my monthly credit card bill. I wrote the check for $150.00, but their scanners read it as $15.00. Had to write them a nastygram with a copy of the check (which showed that their machines had printed the incorrect amount at the bottom) to clear that up. Regarding the OP: every state has adopted some form of the Uniform Commercial Code, the law governing transactions. In the section about checks and written instruments, it states that typewritten terms prevail over printed terms, handwritten terms prevail over both, and words prevail over numbers. That’s why you want to spell it out, in case there’s any question. Oh, and when I write a check for a round dollar amount, I close the words with, “and [sup]no[/sup]/[sub]100[/sub]”. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/29 "2012-02-28T21:19:48Z")
> [@Daylate](#): > > Another little known fact about checks that I found out inadvertently. If you forget to sign the check, and if the bank teller depositing the check neglects to notice this and accepts the check, it will sail thru the rest of the system with no problem. Proved this more than once. Many businesses have a rubber stamp, or as part of their endorsement stamp, with wording like _Absence of signature guaranteed_, meaning that they guarantee to the bank that if the check issuer objects to the bank cashing the check without a signature, the business will cover the amount. This used to be one of the ‘tricks’ people (or businesses) used when they had cash flow problems – ‘forgetting’ to sign the check, ‘accidentally’ putting the check to the electric company in the water company return envelope & vice versa, ‘forgetting’ the leading digit (paying the $1,234.50 bill with a check for $234.50), etc. All designed to keep the creditor happy while giving you a few more days to gather the cash to cover that bill. Businesses have evolved procedures to deal with these tricks. Like the “Absence of signature guaranteed” stamp. Like return envelopes with no pre-printed address, just a window that shows the address on the return part of the bill. Just part of the ongoing battle between creditors and debtors. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/30 "2012-02-28T23:21:11Z")
**@Acsenray** - I do that also. I remember learning it that way in class, something about it being less ambiguous when it’s all written out. I also learned to always put a dollar sign directly in front of my first numeral, so people couldn’t alter the amount that way. I also strikethrough the remainder of the Payee line when it’s to a short-named entity. Apparently I write weird checks. IOW: > [@](#): > > Pay to: ACME Co.------------------------------------- > Amount: three dollars and zero cents ------------- [del] Dollars [/del] $3.00 ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/31 "2012-02-29T02:12:48Z")
It must have been Jerry Seinfeld who did a bit about when a friend gives you a check and they still insist on drawing that line after the amount words so that you can’t scribble in _“and a jillion dollars”…_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/32 "2012-02-29T06:19:10Z")
I recently got a new booklet of Terms and Disclosures for my checking account at XXXXX Bank (one of the major U. S. nationwide banks that’s been so much in the news lately about how badly they fuckup everyone they touch) – It lists umpteen ways they could theoretically f- up your check transactions, disclaiming responsibility and liability for every imaginable case. For example, they state that they may honor a check for either the numerical amount or the written amount, if they differ. They may honor post-dated checkes, or stale-dated checks, or not, as they choose. Basically, they simply disavow any responsibility for paying attention to what they are doing when they process checks. They do, however, state a plausible rational for this, in this modern age: They note that the vast majority of checks these days are processed _completely automatically_, never being seen or touched by human hands anywhere within the banking system. So whatever the scanners ring up is what you get. This suggests to me, perhaps, that the _numerical_ amount on the check, not the written-in-words amount, is most likely what the scanner can read. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/33 "2012-02-29T07:21:19Z")
I don’t remember what the dispute was with the bank, but one time I jotted down the wrong amount numerically. But because I had written out the right amount “value”, I was found in favor. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/34 "2012-02-29T07:42:22Z")
From my bank teller training in the 90s: Elements of a Check: 1. Date 2. Payee 3. Amount 4. Signature 5. Drawee Bank When numerical and written amounts differ, the written amount is controlling. The bank processing center only checks a certain percentage of checks for endorsements, so some get through without. A bank may accept a stale dated check. There is no need to write “Two and 00/100”-------- [Dollars]. Just write “Two”-------- [Dollars]. We would not accept checks missing the “sum certain” (handwritten amount). However, we would accept checks bearing a sum certain but lacking a numerical value. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/35 "2012-02-29T11:34:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > They do, however, state a plausible rational for this, in this modern age: They note that the vast majority of checks these days are processed _completely automatically_, never being seen or touched by human hands anywhere within the banking system. So whatever the scanners ring up is what you get. This suggests to me, perhaps, that the _numerical_ amount on the check, not the written-in-words amount, is most likely what the scanner can read. Yes, which is what happened to me when the scanner screwed up the amount. Had they not corrected this, I’d have gone to my landlord and seek other ways to get my money back. :mad: The above is a good example on why one should check their online accounts with some frequency and check for odd charges. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/36 "2012-02-29T18:46:12Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > It must have been Jerry Seinfeld who did a bit about when a friend gives you a check and they still insist on drawing that line after the amount words so that you can’t scribble in _“and a jillion dollars”…_ 😃 Not picking on you in particular, but… The problem with all of the comments about giving the check to a trusted person is that you don’t really know where the check will end up. The trusted person might endorse the check over to someone… who could sign it over to someone else and so on. Or the person signs the check at home only to have the wind blow it down the street before they deposit it. An endorsed check can be cashed by anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Terra1041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/37 "2012-03-02T21:36:48Z")
What I want to know is why the “cents” part of the check is almost always still written in numerals. I always wrote everything in words in the appropriate blank (e.g., “fifty dollars and thirty-eight cents”) but usually I see stuff like 38/100. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of spelling it out in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/38 "2012-03-02T22:40:47Z")
I write “fifty and thirty-eight/100” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_the_turtle/32/2926_2.png) [@Fear\_the\_Turtle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_the_Turtle)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/39 "2012-03-02T23:00:51Z")
> [@Terra1041](#): > > What I want to know is why the “cents” part of the check is almost always still written in numerals. I always wrote everything in words in the appropriate blank (e.g., “fifty dollars and thirty-eight cents”) but usually I see stuff like 38/100. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of spelling it out in the first place? If some master artisan could make my 00/100 look like 99/100 I’d gladly give him the 99 cents for the entertainment value. In other words, not spelling out the cents couldn’t cost you much to fraud. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221/40 "2012-03-02T23:39:07Z")
> [@Terra1041](#): > > What I want to know is why the “cents” part of the check is almost always still written in numerals. I always wrote everything in words in the appropriate blank (e.g., “fifty dollars and thirty-eight cents”) but usually I see stuff like 38/100. Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of spelling it out in the first place? There’s often not enough space to write out the whole amount, including the cents. And as Fear the Turtle said, the most that you could lose to fraud or mis-reading of the amount is 99¢ – not much to worry about. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-write-out-the-value-on-a-check/614221.md?page=3)