How to Endorse a US Personal Check to Deposit to United States Bank Account

A lot of bloggers or webmasters use United States based advertising network to earn extra revenue from blogs or websites. Some of the ads companies pay via electronic method using payment gateway such as Paypal or direct deposit, while some others, such as AdBrite and Tribal Fusion, pay by check only, especially to non-US international publishers.

Depositing a US and non-local personal check on a local bank normally incurs huge commissions and clearing fees. Thus, for publishers who have a US bank account, it’s possible to mail the check with just a cheap postage stamp to deposit into a USA-based bank account, without any clearing fee or commission charges. Beside, the money value of the check will be credited into account within a day or two of receiving of check by bank, contrary to international clearing time which may takes a month or longer when deposit into a local bank.

To deposit a check into US bank account, or to cash or transfer a check made payable to you so that it can be cashed by another person, the check has to be endorsed, or ‘signed’. If you look at the back of the cheque, there is an endorsement area marked at the back of the check, along the short edge on the side which bounded by statements of “Endorse Here” on the top, and “Do Not Write, Stamp or Sign Below This Line”. So how would you endorse a check? Proper endorsement of the check is important so that the check won’t be returned.

To endorse the personal check, follow these steps:

1. Turn to the back of the check, and locate the endorsement area with a few lines or blank space. Normally you have to turn the check 90 degrees so that the check sit vertically in order to sign the endorsement. There should be a line saying Do Not Write, Stamp or Sign Below This Line. All endorsement singed must be above this line.
2. There are a few ways or types of endorsements which are listed below.

   Blank Endorsement

   Blank endorsement allows everyone and anyone to cash the check, so do not endorse the check with blank endorsement until you’re at the bank personally to cash or deposit it. To endorse the check blankly, sign your name the same way it appears on the front of the check as “Pay To” name. For example,

   ENDORSE CHECK HERE
   William John

   Restricted or Restrictive Endorsement

   Restricted endorsement is safer method to endorse a check and should be used whenever possible, especially if you mail the check over to the bank for depositing. To place a restricted endorsement, write For Deposit Only or For Deposit to Account Number, and then sign your name underneath, and optionally, account number. Check endorsed restrictedly can only be deposited to your bank account. If you write “For Deposit Only”, account number is not necessary in order to protect your privacy. For example,

   ENDORSE CHECK HERE
   For Deposit Only
   William John

   Special Transfer Endorsement

   If you want to transfer or sign over the check to someone else or third party person who can then cash or deposit the check, write Pay to the Order Of, then print the the name of the person who will be receiving the check (who you’re going to give the check to) underneath, and then sign your name underneath on the third line. For example,

   ENDORSE CHECK HERE
   Pay to the Order Of
   Samantha Jones
   William John

   The third party person can then endorse the check by signing his or her name below your signature.

After endorsement, the check can be cashed over the counter, deposited into bank account or transfered to the other people.