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• Taking these precautions can help you avoid potential issues and keep your finances secure.
• Your paper checks all have your bank information on them—the name of your bank or credit union and your account and routing number.
• Take steps to hide your account information from thieves and hackers.

This helps protect your account from unauthorized transactions. Whenever you give your bank information to someone else, there is always a risk of it falling into the wrong hands — even if it’s only a small risk. If you’re asked for an electronic version or image of your voided check, don’t send it along as an attachment or pasted image in an email. Instead, turn it into an encrypted or password-protected file or create a link to a file in a protected folder. Or better yet, see if you can send a hard-copy through the mail or via fax.

Cover up a Mistake

It should be written across the entire front in large, preferably upper case letters. Use either with a dark pen or fine marker so it will show clearly on the one hand, but still leave the important information intact on the check. Business firms and other organizations aren’t the only entities that may involve recurring personal payments. You may have a payment arrangement set up with another person, such as a family member, a friend, or even a landlord/tenant to make recurring payments electronically. A woman sits at her dining room table with laptop and financial reports doing her monthly budget.

In the other states, the program is sponsored by Community Federal Savings Bank, to which we’re a service provider. Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover.

What If You Don’t Have Any Checks?

Writing “VOID” on a check means that the check can’t be deposited or cashed. When you void something it means you’ve made it empty, of no effect, or null. So, if a written check is full of the monetary amount you write on it, voiding the check makes that check financially empty. Whatever you do, never sign a voided check or write any additional information in the blank spaces provided. The purpose of a voided check is to provide your bank name, routing number, and personal account number. For example, if your company’s payroll department needs a check from you to set up direct deposit, you can provide a voided check.

If You Don’t Have Checks

Setting up direct deposit for your paychecks (or for one-off payments, if you are a freelancer for example) is incredibly simple with the help of a check that has been voided out. Just remember to leave the bottom of the check where your checking account and routing number are listed legible, otherwise it won’t be much good as a voided check. Paper checks are a traditional form of banking and many of the best checking accounts still used them. But we live in a modern world with new approaches ways to handle money.

You may also be able to set up deposit or withdrawal instructions using a deposit slip instead of a voided check. A pre-printed deposit slip might be required—not the blank ones you grab at the bank and fill out by hand. You may have several of these pre-printed slips in the back of your checkbook.

• Direct deposit and earlier availability of funds is subject to timing of payer’s submission of deposits.
• Or better yet, see if you can send a hard-copy through the mail or via fax.
• SoFi Bank is a member FDIC and does not provide more than $250,000 of FDIC insurance per depositor per legal category of account ownership, as described in the FDIC’s regulations.

Pull out a blank check from your checkbook

These partnerships do not influence our opinions or recommendations. This article was subjected to a comprehensive fact-checking process. Our professional fact-checkers verify article information against primary sources, reputable publishers, and experts in the field. Writing “VOID” across the front of the check prevents anybody from using the check to make a standard check payment (by filling in a payee and an amount). If you need a Stop Payment Order for a check, your bank will probably need the information on the check you want to cancel. Maybe you don’t need the check anymore, or you messed up writing it out and need to change something on it.

There could be multiple reasons why you may need to void a check. For example, a company might need to apply for an unsecured business loan or set up direct deposits for its employees. 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. The Smart Investor (this website) is an independent financial website. The product offers that appear on this site are from companies from which this website may receives compensation.

You will probably have to fill in an online form on your bank’s website, so make sure to have all the relevant info before you begin. If you don’t know how to make a void check or you don’t have them, you can opt for using deposit slips for certain financial actions. They also contain relevant information such as the routing number, but you will have to insert your bank account number. If you get your paycheck electronically, your employer will need your bank account information to be able to send the money to the right person. This can speed up the process and the funds can sometimes be on your account even a few days early. Once you have the voided check you need, consider scanning or photocopying it.

The bank teller will have to print it out for you, so you could void it and use it as needed according to the instructions outlined here. Most checks are good for six months, but banks might still cash checks that are past this expiration date. Some checks might explicitly state a different period, such as three months or a year.

OR an average beginning day balance of $5,000 or more in any combination of this account and linked qualifying Chase checking, savings, and other balances. We aim to make sure everything on our site is up-to-date and accurate as of the publishing date, but we cannot guarantee we haven’t missed something. It’s your responsibility to double-check all information before making any financial decision. Out of network cash withdrawal fees, third-party, and cash load fees may apply. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Member FDIC.. If you don’t have your checkbook readily available when requested, here are some alternatives you can provide that will have the same information as a check.

Similar to canceled checks, voided checks cannot be used to withdraw money from a deposit account. However, voided checks still show electronic banking information to help individuals or organizations connect with a bank account. Many online check writer software provides the convenience of creating and printing voided checks on the go without doing anything manually. Voiding a check is a straightforward process that involves writing the word “VOID” on the check.

Then you know that no one would be able to alter the check and spend it, because it has been voided. Often, banks will provide instructions on how you can set up what does void a check mean a direct deposit without a voided check. Reach out to your bank, or see if there’s any information online about how you can do this. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service.

This will open the possibility of accessing your money or even stealing your identity for other purposes. The word “Void” should stand out from the pre-printed information on the check, so it’s clear to anyone that the check’s invalid. If you make the lettering too fine, or you use a highlighter, a potential thief may be able to either erase or cover your writing, simply copy the check and make the highlighting disappear.

However, handing over a voided check ensures there are no mistakes. If you have access to a check printer, you can print the check and use it for whatever financial actions. This isn’t the best possible option, but it will provide you with the relevant bank information. When you void a check, it can’t be used as a check, meaning it can’t be deposited.