How to Void a Check

No, it isn’t necessary to sign or put any information on a voided check. Before giving an employer a voided check, it can make sense to first make a copy of the check, so that you know how the check was used. Voiding a check makes it useless for payment or for withdrawing money. That way, you’re helping protect yourself if someone else finds your check.

• If you don’t have a chequebook, you can still get a void cheque.
• You might need to know how to send a voided check to start a direct deposit with your employer or set up autopay for a bill.
• Although it might sound complicated, voiding a check is actually quite easy.
• Employers usually ask for a voided check as a simple way to collect your banking information for direct deposit.

However, there are some circumstances under which a voided check could potentially be cashed, albeit a rare occurrence. No, there’s no need to sign or put any extra information on a voided check. All the check should include is bank information such as your account number, routing number, and check number with the word “VOID” written on the front of the check. In fact, many finance experts argue that it’s safest not to sign void cheques.

Try Wise – A safe and easy way to transfer money

To void a check online, log into your banking account and seek out options provided by your bank. If you are unable to locate any voiding options, your next step should be to contact customer service for guidance. If you have the option to stop a check payment or void a check, select this and cancel using the appropriate check number.

You may need a voided check to set up a bank account, direct deposit, or automatic bill payment. You may also decide to void a check if you filled it out wrong or completed a mobile deposit and want to prevent others from using it. void check meaning A voided check is simply a check that you can no longer use to make a payment or withdraw money from your checking account. You may need to void a check for several reasons, including setting up online bill pay or direct deposit.

What is a Void Check?

The recipient will be able to cash the check unless you immediately contact your bank and have them issue a stop payment on that check. Doing so will block the bank from honoring the check when the payee presents it. The bank will charge a fee whenever you request a stop payment.

If you want to be extra careful, you might write “Void” across the payee line, as well as on the signature line and in the payment box. Consumers often provide their own routing and account numbers online without any problem, so voided checks are required less frequently. For example, online banks allow you to link external accounts by typing in those details yourself.

Benefits of Direct Deposit

For example, some information was wrongly written or the check is not needed any more because the transaction was cancelled. But another common reason is simply to send reliable information about the banking account to another person or organization. The most common use for a voided check is to establish a direct deposit¹. If you’re going to receive payments from an employer electronically, you can send them a voided check, so they have all of your bank information.

Discover how APY impacts your financial choices and maximizes your savings. To void a check, you’d have to cancel it before the recipient had deposited it. You can also write “VOID” in a smaller font on the payee line, date line, amount line, signature line, and in the amount box. It’s okay if it covers up the different text boxes on the check. Maybe you don’t need the check anymore, or you messed up writing it out and need to change something on it. Signing up is free and easy, and you can wave goodbye to those checks.

Reach out to your bank, or see if there’s any information online about how you can do this. A voided check can be useful for providing the necessary information for certain electronic payments, such as direct debits. Even if you use printed checks only on occasion, there comes a time when you need to void a check.

Cancelling a Check After You Have Sent It

If you don’t have a chequebook, you can still get a void cheque. Most banks make it easy to access void cheques via online banking. There are several situations in which a voided check might be used. The most obvious one is when a mistake has been made when writing a check, such as stating the wrong payee or amount to be paid. Writing “Void” across it prevents someone from using the check to falsely extract money from the person’s checking account. Another use for a voided check is to set up direct deposit payments, usually for payroll payments from your employer into your checking account.

Certainly, voided checks are not very common in the current electronic era. Account holders increasingly use on-line platforms to make payments and tend to fill their banking information directly on web sites. A voided check will have all of your bank information printed on it, so it can provide others everything they need to set up a direct deposit payment from your account. A void cheque is a way for an employer or company to ensure it has your correct banking details. However, if it doesn’t insist on an actual voided cheque, you can simply contact your bank to confirm transit, institution and account numbers.

Voiding a check made easy

An alternative to using checks is sending money online through platforms like Small World. You can make your payments or send money to a family member through our app or website. You have all the information available on how to use our services on our website. Write “VOID” across the front of the check in large letters, making sure to avoid covering the account number and routing number at the bottom of the check. Or, write “VOID” five separate times—one in each section (date line, payee line, signature line, amount line, and amount box).

• Signing up is free and easy, and you can wave goodbye to those checks.
• A bank statement is a document that shows you a summary of the money that went in and out of your account during a set period of time.
• In this case, the owner provides the supplier with a voided check where the required data is visible but at the same time avoids any misapplication.
• You have all the information available on how to use our services on our website.
• Then, when payment is needed, it will automatically come out of your bank account.

To send a voided check to someone just ask them for the mailing address you should use to mail the void check to them. Once you have your own personal checkbook, you can write VOID on any of the checks to get a void check. To get a voided check you’ll need to talk to your bank and get them to send you a checkbook. If any of these things occur you can simply void the check to ensure it doesn’t accidentally get used later. In a way, voiding a check you already wrote is a safe method of destroying the check. For instance, maybe you wanted to write a check out to a newly married couple and wrote the check out to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson.

Alternatives to a Voided Check

Only share them as needed such as in the situations described above. Nowadays, most banks offer the ability to print a void cheque directly from your online bank account. However, if this isn’t an option you can create a void cheque on your own. To do this, you will just take one of the cheques attached to the account you want your deposit to go into. Then, instead of filling out the cheque as you normally would, you write ‘VOID’ across it in pen or permanent marker. Just make sure that all of the numbers at the bottom of the cheque remain clear as this is the information needed to set up your payments.

Employers might ask for a voided check to set up direct deposit. They can then enter your account information and confirm that your paycheck is going into the correct account. While checks aren’t as popular as they once were, it’s still important to know how to void one in order to protect your money. They can also be useful when it comes to opening accounts or direct deposits. So, if you’d like to practice voiding checks or start using them for yourself, a book of checks from the CheapCheckStore is a great starting place.