Understanding the Purpose of Endorsing a Check

It’s important to understand the purpose of endorsing a check, in order to protect it from unauthorized signatures. Checks are not a personal form of payment, and they can be used by anyone who has your bank account information. To protect these important financial documents, it's best to endorse them so that only you have access.

What is an endorsement on a check?

Endorsement on a check is the act of signing it. Usually, this involves writing your signature on the back of the check at or near the location where the bank recommends this be done. An endorsement is something you would do if you were authorizing someone else to use your check for a specific purpose. This can include paying a bill, accepting payment from an individual who owes you money, or using your personal identification number (PIN) to access funds in your account. Banks and other financial institutions make it possible for individuals to use checks as part of building credit history and establishing identity verification protocols. Although they are not used much anymore, they are still deemed acceptable ways to pay bills by some businesses as well as government agencies.

How can you do it

You can endorse a check by signing your name on it and writing the name of the person or entity to whom you are giving permission. Be careful not to sign over any of your rights as a check writer because that could affect your ability to cash the check if there is an issue with its validity in the future. If you still feel you don't know how to endorse a check properly, you can look for some information online or ask someone who has done it before. Just remember that you want to make sure the right people are getting paid.

What endorsements do 

Check endorsements protect you from fraud, forgery, and unauthorized signatures. Bank policies require that checks be endorsed by both parties; when a check has been signed by only one party, it becomes void. Endorsing a check must match what is written on it perfectly, including spelling and capitalization. Once a check has been endorsed, its terms cannot be changed without a new endorsement by both parties involved in the transaction.  

What information goes on a check

It's important to know what information goes on a check because the wrong information can lead to problems. Banks will have their own rules governing whether a check is acceptable for deposit into an account. They may or may not accept it if you are using the wrong form of a check or if certain elements of your endorsement are off-base.

Your name

Your full name must be written in ink on the front of the check below where it says "Pay To" and above the location where there is space for your signature (for checks that do not already contain this printed information). The city and state where you write your checks should also be printed on these spaces, so they will be easier to read once someone begins endorsing them. This is important because banks want to make sure that checks are being deposited in accounts that match the location where they were written.

Routing number

Your bank's customer number or routing information goes just below those locations unless you already have your own printed on this area, in which case it should say "for deposit only" so that anyone else cannot endorse checks against your account. It should be signed by you or someone authorized to do so at a designated location to make sure that it's been approved and not forged once someone begins endorsing it. Your check may also contain additional codes, letters, symbols, and numbers above the line for the dollar value of the check. This is part of how banks ensure that written amounts are correct and authorize funds to be moved from an account holder to another person or business once have endorsed the check.

Bank account number and signature

The endorsement must contain your bank account number if you want to use a routing number provided by another financial institution for the purpose of depositing funds into a bank where you do not have one. This is usually done when some other entity will be depositing those funds from their own account and handing them over to you at a later time. You should never endorse checks with your signature only, as it could lead to problems once someone begins using that information to create forged checks on your behalf. Some people like to print their signature onto these spaces instead of signing directly in ink because this helps prevent writing mistakes that would invalidate the check and leave someone open to fraud charges. 

If you didn't know how or why you should endorse a check before reading this article, it would be a safe bet to assume you have now learned the reason for endorsing one. This is a useful check endorsement sample article that provides you with information about how to correctly write on your checks to make sure they aren't taken advantage of by others.