are signatures on cheques even checked ??!!

silentscream999

hi everyone,
i did a test recently to see whether signatures are checked

Wrote a cheque for £800 from my barclays account to natwest. I signed the cheque with "micky mouse" .....it cleared without any problems and its been over 2 weeks now!

this is pretty scary to say the least! so does anyone know if this is normal or just one off ?

Lokolo

I signed a cheque for £790 to my uncle for a computer.

I signed it wrongly (the signature on their records was from when I was like 5).

They rang me up and told me if the cheque was genuine, who was it for, how much. I said blah blah blah and they put it through, even with the wrong signature. However, they did check.

I then went down to HSBC branch and updated my signature

silentscream999

interesting! thanks ....so it probably varies with each bank!

thepenniescount

I have recently married and HSBC changed my account to my new name. I then wrote a cheque and the signatures did not match as the one they have on file was my maiden name so as Lokolo said they called me to confirm the details and asked me to go to the nearest branch and update it.

ben500

I once signed a cheque "Up yours" to a company, I was hoping it would bounce just to p them off a little, it didn't that was about four years ago.

ShelfStacker_3

Cheques are randomly checked, as to individually scan and verify the signature on the many hundreds that come from each individual bank branch each day would be far too time consuming, if not actually impossible. So they do check them, just not all of them.

However, if you're paying in a cheque drawn on the branch where you're paying it in, the signature should be checked and the cheque cancelled. Same as if you're cashing one you've written yourself.

oldwiring

I suppose it all comes down to assessing risk against the costs of thorough checking. I've believe that there is in some banks a sort of limit below which no check is done provided all looks OK.
Another thing is that a lot of processing and storage is done centrally and add to that staff turnover, then you have a situation where knowledge of individual customers is impossible.

It's a far day from filing cheques by signature alone ( no printed name than), so one learnt the signatures, manually cancelling same, finally looking them back to ensure nothing got through, and righteous days they were getting to know the customers' activities, especially disapproved of ones...duly noted:eek:

WhySoHard_2

This is really frightening.

Extant

ShelfStacker wrote: »

However, if you're paying in a cheque drawn on the branch where you're paying it in, the signature should be checked and the cheque cancelled. Same as if you're cashing one you've written yourself.

Does a HSBC cheque clear same day if it's deposited at the branch it's drawn on (i.e. house cheque)?

Extant

Oh, and as it goes - signatures, by and large are not checked, no. The paper instrument is pretty much the least important part of the procedure, since the transaction is all instigated electronically now.

Cheques provide a certain level of convenience in some situations, but they're a flawed and out dated system.

jonesMUFCforever

WhySoHard wrote: »

This is really frightening.

No more frightening than having an Internet loan paid directly into your bank account with only an'electronic' signature or being able to set up a direct debit by telephone etc.
If every single cheque had to be manually looked at there would no free banking by any bank of any kind.