How to Verify If Money Is in Someone's Account to Cash a Check?

Due to consumer privacy laws, banks will not verify the availability of funds in a bank account over the telephone. The payee must visit the drawee bank to determine whether sufficient funds are available to cash a personal or business check. Certified checks are drawn on funds that have already been extricated from a bank account, and most banks will verify the funds for them over the phone. Official checks and cashier's checks work the same way as certified checks, and many banks have verification lines established specifically for third parties to check the validity of those items.

Things You'll Need

• Check
• Government-issued identification
• Secondary form of identification

Instructions

1. Search online for the website of the drawee bank. The site will list nearby banking locations. Some small banks do not have websites, but you can use the telephone directory to locate nearby branches.

2. Call the bank. If the check you have is a cashier's, certified or official check, ask the customer service representative to verify the funds. Read the check number, located on the top right-hand corner of the check, to the representative. The representative will normally require your name, the amount of the check and the name of the drawer.

   If the check is valid, the bank representative will confirm that funds are available and will confirm the day and location of issuance. If the check is a personal or business check, ask the representative what identification the bank requires for non-customers to cash a check.

3. Go to the bank. Take your check to the teller line and hand it to the teller along with your ID. Ask the teller if there are available funds in the drawer's account. The teller will tell you whether the funds are available. If funds are available and the check is payable to you as an individual, you can cash it or have it exchanged for a certified check. Checks made payable to a business entity cannot be cashed but can be exchanged for a certified check.

Tips & Warnings

• Most banks charge a check-cashing fee for non-customers and a fee for exchanging a check for a certified check. Determine which option is less expensive before negotiating the item.

• When the drawee bank confirms that funds are currently available, do not assume the funds will still be available if you take the check and deposit it at your own bank. During the clearing process, other items may clear the drawer's account before your check, so it could bounce even if you verified funds earlier in the day. Cashing the check or exchanging it for a certified check removes the uncertainty involved in depositing it.

• Due to liability concerns, most banks do not negotiate certified checks that are older than 90 days because there are situations in which the drawee bank no longer has to guarantee funds. Regular checks are regarded as "stale dated" after six months, although that is just a common practice and not a legal definition.

• Banks will verify funds when a check is presented in person but legally do not have an obligation to cash checks for non-customers.

References

• The Federal Reserve Board: Privacy Choices
• Law Library: Certified Check
• U.S. Comptroller of the Currency: Answers About Cashing Checks
• Bankers Online: Status of Stale Dated/Post Dated Checks

Resources

• Roxborough, Pomerance, Nye & Adreani: Beware of Check Cashing Fees