Save 50% – Order Personal Checks Direct!
Anyone can order personal checks and save themselves a bundle of money with the convenience online. Personal checks arose from an interesting development historically. Throughout history there has been a needfor the transfer of value. Safer and reliable methods of transfer began thousands of years ago.
A check is a negotiable instrument. It instructs a financial company to pay someone a specific amount of money from a specified account held at an institution. It may be for a person or a company that the maker or depositor originates from.
Checks have been used by the early Romans around 1 BC and likely earlier. Anywhere the transfer of goods or use of bills of exchange to facilitate trade by eliminating the need for merchants to carry large quantities of currency (e.g. gold) to purchase goods and services, checks gained favor.
In ancient times as well as today, carrying around a large amount of cash can be very risky. Using the safety of a simple check or bill of exchange that could be redeemed for payment at a different location and time became a safe way of doing business.
Various aspects of a check include: 1. place of issue 2. identification signature 3. payee 4. amount 5. date 6. check ID number and 7. routing number.
The routing / account number in MICR format – in the U.S., the routing number is a nine-digit number in which the first 4 digits identifies the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank’s check processing center.
Digits 5 through 8 indicate the bank served by the check. The 9th digit is a verification digit and all digits are assigned independently by the various banks for identification purposes.
Fractional routing number (U.S. only) – also known as the transit number, consists of a denominator mirroring the first 4 digits of the routing number. And a hyphenated numerator, also known as the ABA number, in which the first part is a city code (1-49), if the account is in one of 49 specific cities, or a state code (50-99) if it is not in one of those specific cities; the second part of the hyphenated numerator mirrors the 5th through 8th digits of the routing number with leading zeros removed.
You’re able to buy checks online or from a financial institution. Many choose to bypass the financial institution middleman and purchase directly from the check printer and, thereby, save 50% in costs.
Filed under: Business