In drawing a cheque in favour of a person not likely to be well known in banking circles, write his address or his business after his name on the face of the cheque. For instance, if you should send a cheque to John Brown, St. Louis, it might possibly fall into the hands of the wrong John Brown; but if you write the cheque in favour of "John Brown, 246 West Avenue, St. Louis," it is more than likely that the right person will collect it.

If you wish to get a cheque cashed where you are unknown, and it is not convenient for a friend who has an account at the bank to go with you for the purpose of identification, ask him to place his signature on the back of your cheque, and you will not likely have trouble in getting it cashed at the bank where your friend keeps his account. By placing his signature upon the back of the cheque he guarantees the bank against loss. A bank is responsible for the signatures of its depositors, but it cannot be supposed to know the signatures of indorsers. The reliable identifier is in reality the person who is responsible.

INDORSING CHEQUES

  1. In indorsing cheques note the following points:
  2. Write across the back—not lengthwise.
  3. If your indorsement is the first, write it about two inches from the top of the back; if it is not the first indorsement, write immediately under the last indorsement.
  4. Do not indorse wrong end up; the top of the back is the left end of the face.
  5. Write your name as you are accustomed to write it, no matter how it is written on the face. If you are depositing the cheque write or stamp "For Deposit" or "Pay to ______Bank______," as may be the custom, over your signature. This is hardly necessary if you are taking the cheque yourself to the bank. A cheque with a simple or blank indorsement on the back is payable to bearer, and if lost the finder might succeed in collecting it; but if the words "For Deposit" appear over the name the bank officials understand that the cheque is intended to be deposited, and they will not cash it.
  6. If you wish to make the cheque payable to some particular person by indorsing, write "Pay to ______(name)______ or order," and under this write your own name as you are accustomed to sign it.
  7. Do not carry around indorsed cheques loosely. Such cheques are payable to bearer and may be collected by any one.
  8. If you receive a cheque which has been transferred to you by a blank indorsement (name of indorser only), and you wish to hold it a day or two, write over the indorsement the words "Pay to the order of (yourself—writing your own name)." This is allowable legally. The cheque cannot then be collected until you indorse it.
  9. A cheque payable to order and a blank indorsement.
  10. An authorised stamped indorsement is as good as a written one. Whether such indorsements are accepted or not depends upon the regulations of the clearing-house in the particular city in which they are offered for deposit. The written indorsement is considered safer for transmission of out-of-town collections.
  11. If you are indorsing for a company, or society, or corporation, write first the name of the company (this may be stamped on) and then your own name, followed by the word "Treas."
  12. If you have power of attorney to indorse for some particular person, write his name, followed by your own, followed by the word "Attorney" or "Atty.," as it is usually written.
  13. It is sometimes permissible to indorse the payee's name thus, "By ______(your own name)." This may be done by a junior member of a concern when the person authorised to indorse cheques is absent and the cheques are deposited and not cashed.
  14. Do not write any unnecessary information on the back of your cheque. A story is told of a woman who received a cheque from her husband, and when cashing it wrote "Your loving wife" above her name on the back.

V. BANK CHEQUES (Continued)

If you wish to draw money from your own account, the most approved form of cheque is written "Pay to the order of Cash." This differs from a cheque drawn to "Bearer." The paying teller expects to see yourself, or some one well known to him as your representative, when you write "Cash." If you write "Pay to the order of (your own name)" you will be required to indorse your cheque before you can get it cashed.

If your note is due at your own bank and you wish to draw a cheque in payment, write "Pay to the order of Bills Payable." If you wish to write a cheque to draw money for wages, write "Pay to the order of Pay-roll." If you wish to write a cheque to pay for a draft which you are buying, write "Pay to the order of N. Y. Draft and Exchange," or whatever the circumstances may call for.

If you wish to stop the payment of a cheque which you have issued you should notify the bank at once, giving full particulars.

Banks have a custom, after paying and charging cheques, of cancelling them by punching or making some cut through their face. These cancelled cheques are returned to the makers at the end of each month.