Personal Checks

Personal checks have always been one of the mostnumber,place of issue, date of issue, payee, amount
popular forms of payment whether as thirdof currency (in words and figures) and also the
partypayments or for transactions involvingsignatureof the drawer.
point-of-sales. They are convenient, easy to useThe Parties Involved
andproducing one is quick and fast. However, withThe drawer or maker is the depositor or person who
changes and improvements in technology, thismethodis writing the check. The payee is the person orentity
of paying is slowly becoming unpopular. Find out why.tos which the amount of money specified on the
What is a Check Anyway?personal check is to be paid. The drawee isthe
Generally speaking, a check is a depositor's writtenfinancial institution or bank where the check can be
order to his or her bank, directing it to makefundshanded over for payment.
available to a person or entity who is either specifiedThe Disadvantage of Personal Checks
on the check or who physically bears it. Acheck isUnlike other types of checks, a personal check is
basically an order from a bank to pay a certainmore often discouraged not only by legal entitiesbut
amount of money to a specified person orentity.even by individual payees. Other kinds of checks
It is considered a negotiable instrument in that it canhave an unquestioned validity and are morepreferred
be used to pay an individual, a group or a legalentity.since the funds backing these checks are more likely
Only a depositor with a checking account may usesufficient.
checks as a means to purchase goods orservices. ItWhat the Future Holds for Personal Checks
is variously spelled as check, cheque or checque. ThePersonal checks as instruments of exchange are
U.S. uses 'check' whilegradually losing their popularity as a means withwhich
Commonwealth countries and Britain uses 'cheque'.to pay for goods and services. The decline is merely
A personal check is check drawn from the personala result of better and more convenientalternative
funds of a depositor or account holder. Eachtime anmeans, such as debit or credit card payments, online
account holder writes a personal check, heand telephone payments andbanking. ATMs are also
guarantees that he has sufficient funds in hisbank inthe more preferred method of getting cash. Unlike
order to pay the amount specified on his check. Ifchecks, machines aremore available and accessible
the payee withdraws the amount from thedraweeregardless of day and time.
bank or deposits it in his own account and theAnother reason is that checks are simply costly to
depositor's funds are insufficient, his checkwill bounceprocess for financial institutions and banks, sincethey
and he will be subject to certain penalties and fees,entail transactions to be done with paper. Compared
depending on his drawee bank.to other methods of payment ortransactions such as
An advantage of personal checks or any type ofelectronic payments, checks are slower to process
check for that matter is that they are convenientand use more resources
touse and protected the bearer against theft. They(paper, ink, manpower).
also function as receipts after they havePersonal checks are also more likely to be used in
beenprocessed by the drawee banks and returnedfraud and even identity theft, since they ofteninclude
to the depositor or drawer.personal information such as the depositor's name,
What's in a Personal Check?account number and signature. In somecountries,
Typically, a personal check will contain certainpersonal checks even include the account holder's
information such as: account number, checkaddress.