How To Cancel a Check in 6 Steps

If you sent a check and want to cancel it before it is processed or your check was lost or stolen, you can contact your bank or credit union and request a stop payment on that check. Don’t fret over this — canceling a check can be done in six easy steps.

How To Cancel a Check

A stop payment request is easy to make, and the steps are generally the same for all financial institutions. Consider the actions below to help guide you through this procedure.

1. Decide Whether To Cancel the Check

Before you cancel a check, you want to be clear why you are taking this action, because most accounts have a stop payment fee.

Are you close enough to the recipient of your check that you could ask them to kindly not cash the check and destroy it instead? Could you ask the company you’re paying with the check to not process it? Or, if you lost the check, perhaps giving yourself a day to search for it may be better than spending the stop payment fee — at least if you’re certain it hasn’t fallen into someone else’s hands.

2. See Whether the Check Has Cleared

If the check has already cleared, then canceling a check or stopping payment will not benefit you. Time is a major factor with this action, because you need to give the bank enough time to process a stop payment on the check.

3. Collect the Relevant Pieces of Information

When you want to stop payment on a check you’ve written, you must provide your financial institution with your account number, the number of your check(s), the date of the check and the dollar amount.

4. Contact Your Bank

Call your bank or visit a physical branch and request a stop payment. Some banks, like Wells Fargo and Bank of America, Member FDIC, allow you to request a stop payment online.

5. Approve Any Stop Payment Fees

Most banks have a fee for stop payments, depending on the account tier you have. You must pay your fee in order for the process to go through, so do not hesitate to pay the fee.

6. Note the Expiration Date on the Stop Payment Order

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, most state laws require stop payment orders to be in effect for six months if you make the request in time and in writing, such as by filling out a stop payment request form.

However, if you make your request by phone and don’t follow up with a written request, the stop payment order will cease after 14 days.

Can You Cancel a Check for Any Reason?

Requesting a stop payment order from your bank is a legal method to protect your funds, such if a check is lost or stolen. However, canceling a check to avoid contractual obligations — or when you do, in fact, owe someone money — can lead to legal consequences.

How Much Does It Cost To Cancel a Check?

The stop payment fee depends on not only your bank but the type/tier level of your account at your bank. For instance, if you have a Bank of America Advantage Relationship Banking account, which is a higher tier bank account, you will not have any stop payment fees.

While some accounts may have the perks of fee-free stop payments, most accounts at banks do charge. Consider this comparison of stop payment fees at some national banks:

How Long Do You Have To Cancel a Check?

You want to cancel a check as soon as you possibly can, before your payee cashes the check. You want to give your bank enough time to process the stop payment.

Can You Stop Payment of a Cashier’s Check?

While you usually do not have the ability to stop payment on a cashier’s check — because it is a purchased bank product drawn from the funds of a bank instead of your account — you can fill out an official declaration form if your cashier’s check was lost, stolen or destroyed. Simply fill out the account number of the cashier’s check or certified check, check number, check date, check amount and to whom the check was made out.

What if a Fraudulent Check Has Cleared My Account?

The check you just cashed may be “in the clear” but you are certainly not. Fraudulent checks can take weeks to discover, but banks show available funds from a deposited check within days. This means that you can spend your deposited funds from a check that you’ve cashed, but later be asked to repay that deposited amount of money by your bank. This is usually how check scams come to pass for personal checks as well as cashier’s checks.

If you fear a fraudulent check has cleared your account, do not spend the funds, and contact your bank at a branch or over the phone as quickly as possible.

Takeaway

Ultimately, canceling a check takes just six easy steps. The most important thing to do is to communicate with your bank in a timely manner.

Cynthia Measom contributed to the reporting for this article.

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: How To Cancel a Check in 6 Steps