Bank fee for cashing that bank's check

[CDRE]

A friend received a health care related refund check. The account is with Truist bank, so he went to a teller at Truist to cash the check. The teller said there is a charge of $8 to cash a check for someone without an account at Truist. What? An $8 fee to cash a check at the bank that holds the account? The bank has the money, so what costs would they need to recover? Perhaps it is a warped method to gain account holders? Anyone experience this type of fee to cash a check?

 

[Luvtoride]

Why would you GO To the bank the check was drawn on? Deposit to your own bank account via Mobile banking (Taking a picture of the check). Takes about a minute and no charge!

 

[MichaelB]

A friend received a health care related refund check. The account is with Truist bank, so he went to a teller at Truist to cash the check. The teller said there is a charge of $8 to cash a check for someone without an account at Truist. What? An $8 fee to cash a check at the bank that holds the account? The bank has the money, so what costs would they need to recover? Perhaps it is a warped method to gain account holders? Anyone experience this type of fee to cash a check?

I’m not trying to justify a charge, but in this case it is incumbent upon Truist to verify the identity of the person cashing the check, and if it later turns out that it was a false identity, Truist is liable for the check amount.

If the person cashing the check has an account at Truist, identity has already been established.

 

[Texas Proud]

Interesting... I do not know if they have changed the law but I will give a story of someone who knew the law back when...

He got a check payable to 'Cash'... went to teller to cash... teller said "I need to see some ID"... he said 'no you do not, it is to cash'.. teller wanted a fingerprint.... customer said no... teller said they would not cash... customer said call your cashier over...

Well, the cashier knew the law... a check made out to cash is bearer instrument.. said to give the guy his cash...

I did hear they looked up to make sure the signature looked correct... not sure if they tried to call the check writer...

 

[Aerides]

appears most banks charge nowadays for non customers to walk in and cash checks.

 

[jazz4cash]

Interesting... I do not know if they have changed the law but I will give a story of someone who knew the law back when...

He got a check payable to 'Cash'... went to teller to cash... teller said "I need to see some ID"... he said 'no you do not, it is to cash'.. teller wanted a fingerprint.... customer said no... teller said they would not cash... customer said call your cashier over...

Well, the cashier knew the law... a check made out to cash is bearer instrument.. said to give the guy his cash...

I did hear they looked up to make sure the signature looked correct... not sure if they tried to call the check writer...

Under know your customer law banks can deny cashing a check without ID. I can't post the screenshot but here is text from google assist:

**Yes, banks can deny cashing a check made out to cash if you do not provide identification.** Most banks require proper ID to prevent fraud and ensure the security of transactions.

 

[akck]

Why would you GO To the bank the check was drawn on? Deposit to your own bank account via Mobile banking (Taking a picture of the check). Takes about a minute and no charge!

Years ago, DW was the treasurer for a parent group. One reason for going to the issuing bank was to avoid NSF check fees. The checks bounced on the initial deposit. The only way to get the cash was to check the account at the issuing bank to make sure funds were available.

 

[freedomatlast]

This can be fun. I went to the customer's bank one time to cash a check to be sure there were sufficient funds available. They started that stuff with me about you must be a customer, so I said fine, I want to become a customer so, open a checking account and I want to deposit this check in it. I made it very clear that as soon as the check was deposited in my new account, and after I withdrew that amount, I would be closing the account. After several discussions with various people, they decided it would be in their best interest to just cash the check for me without a fee. Their game, their rules. I'll play.

 

[Aerides]

Years ago, DW was the treasurer for a parent group. One reason for going to the issuing bank was to avoid NSF check fees. The checks bounced on the initial deposit. The only way to get the cash was to check the account at the issuing bank to make sure funds were available.

well yeah, years ago. Today if I were the group treasurer I'd ask for zelle and venmo and not even deal with paper checks.

 

[Luvtoride]

I am the treasurer for a social/ mens club religious non-profit organization. Our commercial bank does not offer Zelle as a means of payment to a business account. As the treasurer, I WILL NOT use my own personal Zelle or Venmo account to transact business for the organization!
I obtained a credit card processing account for our organization that provides a Website/ URL for use in our flyers and emails for payment as well as a hand-held rechargeable credit card processing terminal for taking credit and debit card payments (tap, swipe and chip insert). For a small monthly fee, we have virtually done away with checks, which most men don’t carry around with them or use much anymore anyway!

 

[Texas Proud]

Under know your customer law banks can deny cashing a check without ID. I can't post the screenshot but here is text from google assist:

**Yes, banks can deny cashing a check made out to cash if you do not provide identification.** Most banks require proper ID to prevent fraud and ensure the security of transactions.

Thanks... I was thinking that it had changed... this was like 30 years ago..

I bet the 'know your customer' law goes deep into requiring ID to do anything now...

 

[badatmath]

well yeah, years ago. Today if I were the group treasurer I'd ask for zelle and venmo and not even deal with paper checks.

Guess I'd have to drop out I don't use those. 2 of my banks (CU) don't even allow Zelle. IDK about venmo.

For some reason I think when I first started working I had ot go to eh banks that issued my paycheck to cash it but IDK why - was direct deposit not a thing back then? I really can't remember.

 

[sdawson]

When I was a teen (back in the 70s) the rules were that the bank the check was drawn on would honor the check for anyone. Showing some sort of ID does make sense in this scenario.

However, a few years ago I was surprised by this as well. I went to a bank that the check was drawn on, and they too said that there would be a fee as I was not a customer. So at least some banks are pulling this now. As I did not have the time to argue, I simply walked away and deposited it in my own bank later when I was in there.

I don't know when the guidance changed, but it does reduce the value of having an account with banks which do this.

 

[pb4uski]

This can be fun. I went to the customer's bank one time to cash a check to be sure there were sufficient funds available. They started that stuff with me about you must be a customer, so I said fine, I want to become a customer so, open a checking account and I want to deposit this check in it. I made it very clear that as soon as the check was deposited in my new account, and after I withdrew that amount, I would be closing the account. After several discussions with various people, they decided it would be in their best interest to just cash the check for me without a fee. Their game, their rules. I'll play.

I'm not sure if I would have told them ahead of time

 

[athena53]

I am the treasurer for a social/ mens club religious non-profit organization. Our commercial bank does not offer Zelle as a means of payment to a business account. <snip>
I obtained a credit card processing account for our organization that provides a Website/ URL for use in our flyers and emails for payment as well as a hand-held rechargeable credit card processing terminal for taking credit and debit card payments (tap, swipe and chip insert). For a small monthly fee, we have virtually done away with checks, which most men don’t carry around with them or use much anymore anyway!

I was Treasurer for the Garden Club- the first to get on-line access to the account and also the first to set up a Square account. The members, mostly older women, still LOVE their cash and their checks. Bookkeeping was a real PITA. I'd come home from the meeting, gather all the cash and document the sources, write a personal check to the Club for that amount, and deposit that and the checks I'd been given by members via the bank's mobile app. I made this very clear to the Board and they were fine with that. No way I wanted to wait in line to make deposits. Our main fund-raiser is an annual Plant Sale and customers were THRILLED when they could pay via Square and not just cash. They bought more.

 

[COcheesehead]

This can be fun. I went to the customer's bank one time to cash a check to be sure there were sufficient funds available. They started that stuff with me about you must be a customer, so I said fine, I want to become a customer so, open a checking account and I want to deposit this check in it. I made it very clear that as soon as the check was deposited in my new account, and after I withdrew that amount, I would be closing the account. After several discussions with various people, they decided it would be in their best interest to just cash the check for me without a fee. Their game, their rules. I'll play.

There’s usually on hold on deposits sometimes up to 30 days or more. So if you did open the account, you would have to wait to withdraw the funds.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Timely post. I was doing some banking today inside my PNC Bank branch. While waiting on the teller to do my stuff, I heard another teller speaking to a customer in the drive thru lane. After some confusion, it was finally figured out that the person had a check to cash that was drawn on a PNC account, but the person cashing it did not have an account.

The person was told that the transaction could not be done at the drive thru. They had to come inside the building. They also needed 2 forms of ID - a drivers license and an ATM card from another bank would suffice. There was also going to be a fee of 2.5% of the check amount.

I just looked at PNCs fee list on their website. This 2.5% fee is for checks over $100. They charge no fee for less than $25 and $2 for up to $100.

 

[freedomatlast]

I'm not sure if I would have told them ahead of time

I think that worked in my favor this time since they knew all the time they were going to invest in opening a new account would just be a waste of time in the long run. Thus they relented, they waived the fee, and I got my funds the same day. Sometimes they need to feel a little bit of pain that results from the rules they impose.

 

[OldShooter]

I was treasurer for our flying club for about 10 years. 80 members, average monthly bills $100-300. I instituted a "voluntary" (lots of encouragement) ACH payment discipline. It took me at most 10 minutes to create the ACH file (Quicken/Excel) and upload it to the bank. The bank's charge for this was like $10/month per batch. It worked very smoothly and IIRC there was maybe one or two of the charges that ever bounced. No way did I want to go to the bank to make deposits.

I billed by the 10th and ran the ACH batch about 10 days later, so members had plenty of time to review their charges.ll

 

[CO-guy]

A friend received a health care related refund check. The account is with Truist bank, so he went to a teller at Truist to cash the check. The teller said there is a charge of $8 to cash a check for someone without an account at Truist. What? An $8 fee to cash a check at the bank that holds the account? The bank has the money, so what costs would they need to recover? Perhaps it is a warped method to gain account holders? Anyone experience this type of fee to cash a check?

I can't remember the last time I went to the bank to deposit a check. Nowadays you just take a picture of it with your phone. Before that I'd use the ATM. Maybe once when the ATM wasn't working I walked into the bank, but that's at least a decade ago.

Not once have I ever tried to "cash a check" at an issuing bank or attempted anything similar at any bank where I didn't already have an account.

 

[athena53]

I can't remember the last time I went to the bank to deposit a check. Nowadays you just take a picture of it with your phone.

After my husband died I found a mistake in the taxes from the year he died that resulted in a small refund. Both the Feds and the State issued the check to "Athena53 and Mr. Athena53 (deceased)". I had no idea how to endorse them and don't remember how I DID endorse them but I used the app to deposit them. The computers didn't care.

 

[jazz4cash]

I recall as a kid that liquor stores would cash personal checks with a purchase and even give cashback. I think payroll checks could be cashed for a fee as they knew they'd get a sale too. When I worked at megacorp the hourly employees were paid weekly on Friday morning. The bar and grill across from the plant would cash those checks but there would be a line of spouses outside the chainlink fence and many workers would hand their checks over through the fence.

 

[USGrant1962]

I don't remember all the details, but at one of my college summer jobs we would get our checks and one "old" dude would take them all, cash them at the bank, and come back and give us our cash. Then we would go to lunch at the mall next door and the same "old" dude would whistle at the women walking at the mall ... cringe! Looking back the guy was probably 50.

 

[msanniee]

A friend received a health care related refund check. The account is with Truist bank, so he went to a teller at Truist to cash the …

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which regulates national banks, directly addressed this on its consumer help website:

"There is no federal law or regulation that requires national banks to cash checks for noncustomers."

The OCC further confirmed this position in Interpretive Letter 933, which concluded that a national bank may charge a fee to a non-accountholder for cashing a check drawn on an account at that bank, and that doing so does not affect the negotiability of the check under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) § 3.

 

[Extonite]

Reminds me of a story, somewhat related, several years ago.
Withdrew $200 from ATM at my bank to save a trip inside.
The machine spit out 4 brand new $50 bills.
I went inside and asked for smaller denominations, tens and twenties please, they refused.
Me: "your own ATM outside the door just handed me these, are you suggesting they might be counterfeit?" "Sorry, no can do" AAAARGH!
Next stop, barber (remember them?) handed him a $50 bill for the haircut. He: "are you kidding?"
Double AAAARGH!