Writing "For Deposit Only" on the back of a check - is there any point?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I always do it. Otherwise if it just had your signature on it, and got lost or stolen, someone could potentially take it to the bank and cash it.

Not to go off topic, but do any banks still cash third party checks? I feel like I heard that's been pretty much done away with due to fraud concerns.

[Anonymous]

Not a banker, but the reason I was taught to do this (when I was treasurer of a group), is that if you just sign (or stamp as we did then for the group), a check, someone can write a different account at the top, or even cash the check. There have been tellers in the past who have fraudulently stolen checks by cashing them out instead of depositing. When you put "For Deposit Only" not only can the check only be deposited, but it can only be deposited to an account held in the same name as the Payee on the front. So a check written to John Doe cannot be deposited into an account in the name of Jane Smith.

Nowadays, check fraud is a lot harder with a lot of computerized checks and balances to protect the deposits, but if you are still handling paper checks, then it is still safest. The only time I don't do that, is when I am depositing the check via the mobile app on my phone. In that case, no one will be handling the paper check except me so the risk of check fraud goes down significantly.

[Anonymous]

It's been over a decade since I worked as a bank teller but back then, if you wrote for deposit only, it could only be deposited into your account, no cash back, no depositing into someone else's account, etc. So if you're sending your untrustworthy kid to deposit checks for you, it was an added safety check. If you just signed it without the for deposit only statement, someone else could cash it or deposit it into their account.

I've had some bank tellers require it for checks I'm cashing which doesn't make sense but whatever.

[Anonymous]

Here's something you might think is crazy, but it's true: if you write "For Deposit Only" and your account number on the back of the check, you technically don't even have to sign your name!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Here's something you might think is crazy, but it's true: if you write "For Deposit Only" and your account number on the back of the check, you technically don't even have to sign your name!

Kind of sort of correct, but only if you are depositing into your own account. The correct way to do this would be to write, "Deposit to the account of the within named payee." Then it can only be deposited into YOUR account.

[Anonymous]

^ Add that this is the way to deposit checks that are made out to your spouse but you forgot to ask him/her to sign them on your way out of the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there any point to writing a restricted endorsement of "For Deposit Only" on the back of a check? Way back when, my mom told me I should always do that to prevent fraud, but I never questioned or checked her advice. Does anyone else still do this?

Always. Otherwise, if you misplace the check, someone could sign it over to cash.

[Anonymous]

Always because it can only be deposited and not cashed if it's stolen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Here's something you might think is crazy, but it's true: if you write "For Deposit Only" and your account number on the back of the check, you technically don't even have to sign your name!

Kind of sort of correct, but only if you are depositing into your own account. The correct way to do this would be to write, "Deposit to the account of the within named payee." Then it can only be deposited into YOUR account.

Well, yes, the point is that you are depositing to your own account. And no, you don't have to write, "Deposit to the account of the within named payee."
You only need to write "For Deposit Only" and the account number. I've done this many times. No signature is necessary if you are depositing to your account.

[Anonymous]

Our bank requests we write For Deposit only to FSB USAA Account #.

[Anonymous]

For me, no. I deposit 99% of my checks electronically ($10k mobile limit per month). I don't sign the check until I'm getting ready to deposit it and then I take the picture and deposit it with my phone app.

For the one or so check a year I deposit at the ATM, I don't even sign it until I get there so even if it got lost between the time I left my house and I arrived at my bank, the only way someone could cash it is if they forge my signature which would be easily provable as not mine.

I used to write my account number on the back because somewhere along the line I was told to do that but now I don't anymore and it hasn't been a problem. I think I stopped because I realized that that meant that my account number was now accessible to the person who had written me the check. I wasn't really comfortable with that.

Hell, I deposited a check once at an ATM and forgot to sign it. Made no difference whatsoever. Funds still went through. No one said a word.

[Anonymous]

I always do this - my now-husband said to after he took his Commercial Paper class in law school. It paid off once when I had a large expense reimbursement check to deposit in my wallet when my purse was stolen - that was one thing we did not have to worry about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have never even heard of this before

It's one of those grown-up things you learn. I learned it in my 40's. LOL.

[Anonymous]

So do you need to wrote the account number or not?

I have a few accounts at my bank (personal, joint with spouse, and business) so I had gotten into the habit of including just the last four digits of my account on the back like this *1234, in part to distinguish which account it should go into. It's always worked for phone and atm deposits. But the last time I banked in person, the teller made me cross that out, initial it, and then write the full account number. Do you write out the whole thing?

[Anonymous]

I never write the account number on my checks and have never had a problem.