Cashing Checks: What Are Check Cashing Requirements?

When you go to a bank to cash a check there are many different rules that they have in place. Some banks will not cash your check under any circumstance if you do not have an account with their bank. Even if you have a government check or payroll check they still will not cash it. That's why it's important to have some type of bank account.

There are some banks that will cash your check even though you have no account with them but you must sign up for some type of program. They will have you fill out registration papers then you have to present your drivers license or a state ID along with your social security number. Once you are registered they will cash your checks and charge you a fee of 1.5% of the check amount. If you have a check in the amount of $1,000 your fee would be $15. This can be quite expensive just to cash a check.

Some banks will cash your check if you have no account with them if the check is drawn on their bank. They can quickly verify if the check is good or not.

If your check is issued from a out of state bank they may place a hold on your check from 5 to 11 days to make sure that the check is good and that it will clear. When a check is placed on hold the bank will normally advance you $100 out of the check but the rest has to remain on hold for the allotted time. These procedures can vary from bank to bank.

You can also cash a check when you open a checking account but the check will have to remain on hold. The hold time can vary from 2 days to 11 days depending on the check. The bank will still advance $100. If it turns out your check is no good the bank will close the account and begin collection activities to retrieve the money you received. If you don't pay back the money you could be reported to chex systems. This is a data base of customers who have abused their checking account privileges in the past. If you are reported you will remain in their system for five years and it will be difficult for you to open a checking account at another financial institution. Some states will allow you to pay off the amount owed and open another checking account immediately even though you are still in the chex system data base. Banks, in other states, will not open a checking account for you even though you have paid off the amount you owe, until the five years have passed.

You can also go to a check cashing place which is really expensive. They will even cash personal checks and the fee can be 10% of the check amount. The fee to cash government and payroll checks is 3.75% of the check amount.

Source: http://www.keybank.com
Source: http://www.chevychasebank.com
Source: http://www.acecashexpress.com