# Memo Line on a Check **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 11, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-line-on-a-check/72027 "2001-07-11T03:06:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-line-on-a-check/72027/1 "2001-07-11T03:06:33Z")
I just got a list of “funny things to do to increase your insanity” from a friend by email. One of the items on the list suggested (I’m paraphrasing here), “On the memo line of your checks write ‘For sexual favors’.” 🙂 I thought this was hilarious! I told my husband that I may do this on my next check - like to the credit card or student loan companies- but he said it wasn’t a good idea. Turns out, he once jokingly wrote “For blackmail” on the memo line of a check to his mom. Her bank got _really_ mad. Boiled down, do banks (especially mega-big banks) read whats on the memo line of a check? ---
**Author:** ![hardygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@hardygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hardygrrl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-line-on-a-check/72027/2 "2001-07-11T03:24:47Z")
I used to work in payment processing at a bank. Most checks go through a large machine that reads the check with an optical scanner. A small percentage are actually seen by the human eye. You probably could get away with it. At the very least, you’ll give some humble bank employee a big laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-line-on-a-check/72027/3 "2001-07-11T07:37:59Z")
When I was in college, my father gave me a check to buy textbooks. I didn’t look at it twice, but when I tried to cash it, the cashier started laughing… turned out the memo line said, “For books, NOT BEER!!” I don’t see why a bank would care what you wrote there… ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-line-on-a-check/72027/4 "2001-07-11T11:17:22Z")
I used to write “January Ransom Payment”, February Ransom Payment", etc on my monthly child support checks to my ex-wife. She noticed it after about a year and threw a royal fit, but she still cashed the check 😉 I never did it again and she probably still thinks that was the only time… ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-line-on-a-check/72027/5 "2001-07-11T13:00:58Z")
Several years ago, Andre Dawson was fined around $20,000 or so for throwing bats onto the field after arguing with the ump over a called third strike. When he wrote his check out to the National League commissioner’s office, he wrote on the memo line: “Donation to the blind.” For this bit of humor, he was fined another $25,000. ---
**Author:** ![monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-line-on-a-check/72027/6 "2001-07-11T17:01:08Z")
I like to write little funny things in the memo part of my check if I am writing the check to a friend. My favorite was when I had to write my (older by 20 years) girlfriend a check for something or another. In the memo section I had written “Go-go lesson number 4”. She got a pretty good laugh over that one. I’ve never heard from my bank to stop doing this. ---
**Author:** ![heembo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@heembo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heembo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/memo-line-on-a-check/72027/7 "2001-07-11T17:25:27Z")
I would always write “extortion” on the memo line of my rent checks. Neither my landlord or the bank ever gave me any crap about it.