What Is a Certified Check and How Do You Get One?
If you want to make a large purchase, such as buying a car or putting a down payment on a new home, you might be wondering about the best payment method to use. Carrying large sums of cash can be impractical and risky. Some sellers don’t accept personal checks as payment because they can’t be sure the check will clear. Fortunately, certified checks are convenient, secure and as good as cash. This makes them highly useful when making large purchases or conducting transactions with people you don’t know well.
This guide will explore the pros and cons of certified checks, how they differ from cashier’s checks and much more. Read on to learn everything you need to know about getting and using certified checks.
What Is a Certified Check?
A certified check is a type of personal check that a bank guarantees by setting aside money in your bank account. By certifying the check, the bank verifies that the account it’s written from has enough money to cover the cost of the check and prevents that money from being used for any other purpose. Essentially, though it is drawn from personal funds, a certified check is one guaranteed by the bank.
Before issuing a certified check, the bank verifies that the funds are available and reserves them until the check is cashed. These checks usually don’t expire.
Pros and Cons of Certified Checks
Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Safer than carrying cash or personal checks | Often come with fees |
Funds guaranteed by the bank | Susceptible to checking scams |
Widely accepted by many businesses | Not issued by all banks |
How To Get a Certified Check
You can purchase a certified check from your bank or credit union. Not all banks offer certified checks, so call ahead to make sure it’s an option. Here’s what to do if your bank offers certified checks:
Prepare the cash needed to fund the check. Make sure you have enough money in your checking account to cover the amount of the check plus funds to pay any additional fees.
Collect the information needed for the check. Your bank can give you specific instructions for getting a certified check. You’ll need:
Your account number
The recipient’s name
Funds to cover the amount of the check and the fee
A form of ID, such as a driver’s license or passport
Write the check. The bank may require you to write a personal check in front of a teller before certifying it.
Present the check to a teller. The teller will then verify the funds and mark the check as certified.
Keep the receipt for your records. Retain it until the check clears your account. If the check is lost or stolen, the receipt serves as a record of the transaction.
How Much Does a Certified Check Cost?
Each bank sets its own fees for certified checks. Some banks include complimentary official checks as a perk for certain accounts. Others may charge as much as about $15. Call your financial institution to find out what it charges for this service.
Certified checks are paid out of your own bank account, so make sure you have enough to cover the check’s amount. If not, make a deposit or transfer over funds before writing the check. You won’t have access to this money after the bank certifies the check.
What’s the Difference Between a Cashier’s Check and a Certified Check?
One alternative to a certified check is a cashier’s check. Each of these payment methods is a form of guaranteed payment, but there are a few key differences between them, as shown in the table below.
Certified Check vs. Cashier’s Check
Check Feature | Certified Check | Cashier’s Check |
|---|---|---|
Funding Source | Paid directly out of the customer’s bank account, using funds that have been set aside by the bank | Paid by the bank using funds withdrawn from the customer’s account |
Cost | Varies by bank, may be up to about $15 | Varies by bank, often between $5 and $20 |
How To Order | Through your bank, usually in person; not available from all banks and credit unions | Through your bank, usually in person; sometimes available online or by phone |
How To Protect Against Certified Check Fraud
Any time you receive a certified check for payment, you should inspect it for signs of fraud and verify it with the issuing bank. Although the presence of one red flag doesn’t necessarily mean a check is fraudulent, the more signs you see, the more likely you’ve received a bad check.
Signs of a Fraudulent Check
The check is missing security features like watermarks, security threads and color-changing ink.
It’s missing the payer’s or the bank’s address.
The payer’s or bank’s name is misspelled.
The payee’s name isn’t printed on the check.
The check is written for more than the required amount of money.
The routing number for the bank is incorrect. You can look up routing numbers for banks online.
If you think you’ve received a fake check, do not deposit it into your account. Call the issuing bank. Look up the phone number on the bank’s official website instead of using the number printed on the check. A scammer will likely print a false number on a fraudulent check. Ask the bank representative to verify the check.
If you’re the victim of a certified check scam, take the following actions:
Contact your bank and the bank that supposedly issued the check.
Report the situation to the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and your state’s attorney general.
Also report it to the platform where you came into contact with the scammer.
You Can Be Held Responsible for a Fraudulent Check
One of the most common certified check scams involves the scammer giving an unsuspecting seller a fraudulent certified check for a higher amount than the purchase price of the item they’re buying. The scammer asks the seller to deposit or cash the check and send them the difference by personal check, cash, wire transfer, ACH transfer or a peer-to-peer payment.
If these transactions take place quickly enough, the bank may not discover the check is fraudulent in time because of the time it takes for it to process and clear. By then, you’ll be on the hook for repaying the bank for the fraudulent check — and the scammer will be long gone with the money.
Final Take To GO
A certified check is a useful and safe payment method because the funds are guaranteed by the issuing bank. Many banks charge a fee to issue certified checks, which can be up to about $15 per check. However, not all banks offer them.
Unfortunately, certified checks are susceptible to scams. To safeguard yourself against fraud, always inspect the check first before accepting it, keeping a close eye out for typos and missing security features. You can also call the issuing bank to verify the check’s validity using a phone number found on the bank’s website rather than the number printed on the check.
Nicole Valentine and Cynthia Measom contributed to the reporting of this article.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: What Is a Certified Check and How Do You Get One?
