Paper check use is becoming more rare, and y𒁃ou’re not alone if y♛ou don’t know how to read a check. Luckily, it’s not too difficult, and there are only a few parts of a check that might require a bit more of an explanation. 

Paper checks are declining in popularity compared to other methods like mobile payments, money transfer apps, and ACH transfers, but they’re not dead yet. Even if you’re not a fan, there are times when you might still need to use checks, such as if you’re setting up direct deposit with your employer. 

Here’s a handy gu🎶ide to the different parts of a check you need to know, starting at the top 🗹and going clockwise around the check.

How To Read the Front of a Check

Payee Line

This is who the check is being made out to—i.e., the person or business that is receiving payment. After you’re done writing the name, you should draw a line to the end so that some🐠one can’t🐓 write their own name later.

Date Line

The date the check was written. You can 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:postdate checks by writing a date in the future that it can be cashed. But, unless you specifically request your bank to honor that date, the check can be deposited prior to it, and all checks are processed as soon as they’re deposited. Some banks charge a fee for this notice.

Bank's Fractional Number

This number serves as a backup to the 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:MICR line in case the check is damaged (the MICR line is the set of numbers printed at the bottom of the check). It allows the bank that’s cashing the ch♚eck to identify which financial institution to pull the ꩵfunds from, and it can also be used to look for check fraud. 

Dollar Box

The person writing the check will enter the d💟ollar amount in two places. Here, in the dollar box, the amount should be written in number format, for example, “$25.00.”

Signature Line

A check isn’t valid to deposit unless someone has signed it on the signature line. This signature authorizes a financial institution to cash the check usi🗹ng funds from the check writer’s account. 

Check Number

You’ll need a way to track each check individually, such as if you need to place a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:stop payment order to prevent a check from being cashed. The check number performs this role. Although check numbers are often found at the top-right of a check, sometimes it also appears as the third number in the MICR line, like in the example above.

Account Number

The account number is the second entry in the MICR line. As the name implies, it identifies the specific account that the money should be pulled from. That’s right—you’re handing out your bank account number with every check that you write. Be aware that this can come back to haunt you later in the form of fraud or identity theft.

Bank Name

When someone cashes a check, the receiving bank will need to know which other bank the funds are coming from.

Routing Number

This is the first number in the MICR line. The routing number allows computers to quickly identify which bank to contact to withdraw the funds. Each bank only has one routing number, which will be prin⭕ted on all of the checks that it issues to customers. 

Memo Line

You can add an optional note to important checks to help you remember transaction 𒁃details later, such as if you’re making a down payment on a car. 

The person or business you’re writing the check out to may also require you to add a note in some cases. The IRS typically requires you to note what the check payment is for on the memo line, such as “2024 income tax payment,” for example. 

Check Amount

In addition to the dollar box, the check writer will need to wr🌜ite out the dollar amount of the check in words. Cents are still written out as numerals, in fractions of a dollar. Continuing our example of a check for $25, you’d write “Twenty-five dollars and 00/100.” You’d then add a line to the end of the check amount 𒉰section, which prevents anyone else from adding any extra digits or zeroes to the check amount. 

Personal Information

The person receiving the check and the bank cashing the check both need a way to contact the person who wrote the check, if necessary. That’s why your name and address, and sometimes your phone number, appear on the check. This is especially important because checks are processed after they’re written and errors may be introduced, unlike instantaneous payment methods such as 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:debit cards. 

How To Read the Back of a Check

Security Screen

The security screen is an added safety feature on the back of mostဣ U.S. checks issued by banks. It’s a panel of faded coloring and wording that’s designed to be difficult to print on a home printer, similar to how watermarks are used.

Endorsement Area

This is where the person who’s receiving the check will sign (or endorse) it when they deposit it into their account. It’s important that the correct person signs it—the account holder—and to follow any specific instructions from your bank. It’s common for banks to require you to write “for mobile deposit only” if you 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:make a mobile deposit through your bank’s app, for example.

Security Details

Check printers add a special box to the back of the check that outlines the check’s security features, such as the security screen. This box is like a gui𝔉de to that particular check’s safety features, which you can look for to verify the check isn’t fraudulent. 

It’s Still Important to Underst꧑and How Checks Work

As someone who helps new college graduates start off on firm financial footing, Sara Young sometimes fields questions about how to use checks. “It's not something that's very frequent, but the question has certainly come up.” She teaches her clients how to read a check and fill it out properly so their transactions go through smoothly. 

It’s especially important to know how to write checks, given how they are often used these days. “Personally, my daycare has required paper checks until very recently,” says Young. “From what I've heard, paper checks are still common in the childcare industry, as well as school-related organizations, sports teams, housing transactions, and things of that nature.” 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Bottom Line

Checks are handy—and sometimes necessary—ways to conduct many financial transactions. Learning how to read a check is not hard, and it allows you to better understand how checks are used, especially 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:how to write a check and watch for check fraud. Together, these are solid skills to have in your financ𓂃ial too✤lkit.