Voided Check: All That You Need to Know!

A voided check is a check with "void" written across the front, which demonstrates that it ought not be accepted for payment. The check can in any case be utilized to get the data required for electronic payments.

Definition and Illustration of a Voided Check

A voided check has "void" written across the front. It's commonly written in big letters so there's no way of it coincidentally being utilized. Voiding a check "disables" the check with the goal that it can't be utilized as an blank check. All in all, a criminal who steals a voided check cannot make the check out to himself, enter an large sum, and sign it. For instance, in the event that your organization's finance division needs a check from you to set up direct deposit, you can give a voided check. Then you know that nobody would have the option to change the check and spend it, since it has been voided.

How a Voided Check functions

A voided check is most frequently used to give banking information so that somebody can set up an electronic connection with your bank account. They request a voided check since it has a few insights regarding your bank and your account printed on it:

Where you bank (or which credit association you use)
Your bank account number
A code that identifies your bank (called a "routing number")

Those numbers imprinted in magnetic ink at the bottom part of your check gives everything needed to deposit or withdraw funds. Here are a couple of circumstances where you might have to void a check: Direct Deposit: Assuming your employer pays you electronically, it will require your account details to get the money to the right place. A voided check is a straightforward way for the employer to get this information and guarantee that it's right. Setting up payments: In case you want to quit writing checks for costs like lease, home loan, and insurance, you will need to provide a voided check to set up automatic electronic payments. Contingent upon how you set things up, the funds will be deducted from your account every month (assuming that you consent to an arrangement approving automatic payments), or you'll need to set up every payment yourself. Mistakes: In the event that you make a error while writing up a check (wrong payee or sum, for instance), void or obliterate it. You will not use it for anything, and a to some extent an unfinished check is unsafe to keep around.

Make a note in your check register so that you'll know where the check went

Necessities for a Voided Check

It is simple: Take a check out of your checkbook, and write "void" across the front to Void a check. Write with all around dispersed letters that are already tall and wide to cover the entire face of the check without concealing the banking information at the base. Utilize a dark pen or marker (the thicker, the better). You need to make it hard for criminals to eradicate or cover your void imprint. If not, they'll have a blank check. You don't have to sign the check or enter some other information. When you give a voided check, the beneficiary duplicates your financial information from it and enters it into their system. Preferably, they'll then shred the check so no other individual can get their hands on that information. Most organizations don't even need an original check; a duplicate of a voided check is sufficient.

Alternatives in contrast to a Voided Check

A check (or a picture of one) probably won't be the best way to set up electronic payments. Probably, organizations request for a printed document as:

It decreases the possibilities of mistakes
It reduces the possibilities of fraud

Conumers frequently give their own routing and account numbers online easily, so voided checks are required less frequently. For instance, online banks permit you to connect external accounts by typing in those details yourself. Billers, like service organizations, also accept payments by e-check when customers input their financial account information. A few organizations even take payments via telephone, permitting customers to orally give the information. In the event that you don't have a check to void in your possession, there are a few different choices:

Ask your bank for a counter check, which is a check printed on request by a branch. Banks commonly charge a little fee for counter checks.
See whether a preprinted deposit slip for a checking or savings account is acceptable.
See if a letter from your bank is acceptable.

Key Action items

A voided check has "void" written across the front. It tends to be utilized to get the information required for electronic payments. Many organizations permit you to give your financial details instead of submitting a voided check.