Cheques

[Kathian]

Does anyone knows what happens to a cheque after it is deposited in a bank?

[Oneeyedvic]

it is sent to the issuers bank. The issuers bank will then make sure that there is sufficient cleared funds in the account and honour the cheque. It is then stored for (i think around) 6 months to make sure there are no issues. You can request that you have the cheque if you want to. It will be stamped that it has been paid

[sammy snake]

You pay a cheque into Bank A on day 1.  Overnight, this cheque and all the paid into Bank A  on that day are collected by a courier or whoever and taken to the Clearing Dept in London.  On day 2, all the cheques are sorted into whichever bank/branch (Bank B)  they are drawn on and are then delivered back to Bank B on the morning of day 3.  The cheques are then checked to ensure they are signed, in date, that the words and figures match, checked for suffiecient funds in the account and checked that they have not been 'stopped'.  They are then paid or 'Returned to Drawer' as appropriate.  The ones that are paid are stored in a box for that particular 'days work' and kept for 6 years.  You can get a copy or even the original cheque if you want it although your Bank will make a charge for this.

 

[stevie21]

Sammy snake's answer is probably what would happen in an ideal world if banks had an abundance of staff and time.  I'd say that the majority of cheques aren't checked too closely and I was under the impression that a cheque, once cashed, was photocopied and then destroyed : the photocopy is eventually stored on microfiche/microfilm (is there a difference?)

I've encountered a few situations where someone has asked for a photocopy of a cheque and the copy has been terrible quality.  I can't ever remember the bank saying "OK, we'll get the original" - only: "Sorry, that's as good as it gets!"

[Mrs_Pegasus]

I remember when I worked in accounts at a council that we actually got all our cheques back (I was the junior who had to file them!!!)  We then kept them for 7 years and then they were destroyed.  I believe that big businesses/govt have their cheques returned to them but this may well have changed with the advent of document imaging systems.

[sammy snake]

I worked for a bank for 17 years so can assure you that original cheques are not 'photocopied and destroyed'.  the originals are kept.  Sometimes businesses have their paid cheques back, sometimes they are required by the Police (in fraud cases they are fingerprinted) and so they are definitely NOT destroyed.

If you ask your Bank for a cheque and they send you a photocopy it is probably because the cqs are stored at some warehouse miles from anywhere and a person at the warehouse has faxed over a copy of it rather than posted the original.

[stevie21]

I stand corrected sammy. Ta