Joint account, signing cheques

iilg

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I don't think anybody actually looks at the signature anyway. A few years ago my girlfriend of the time picked up my chequebook by mistake and used it for a fortnight without the bank or any shops noticing that the name and signature didn't match. IIRC she had written six or seven cheques in that time.

BTW I also have a joint account chequebook that only need one of us to sign.

Wow! (I don't write cheques lately so had no idea).

Are account holders still meant to write home address on back of cheque plus signature?

Gloomendoom

iilg wrote: »

Wow! (I don't write cheques lately so had no idea).

Are account holders still meant to write home address on back of cheque plus signature?

I don't think that has ever been the norm. Some merchants may ask you to do it for their own filing/accounts purposes. I certainly can't remember the last time I did it.

I remember when banks used to post you back all the cheques that you had written over the quarter.

dalesrider

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I don't think anybody actually looks at the signature anyway. A few years ago my girlfriend of the time picked up my chequebook by mistake and used it for a fortnight without the bank or any shops noticing that the name and signature didn't match. IIRC she had written six or seven cheques in that time.
.

The only time a signature is checked is if there is a stop on the cheque or book, the account does not have enough funds or the cheque is of a high value.

A retailer will not have a copy of the book holders signature and the bank will only check it if there is a problem.

Dirk_Gently_2

Yeah, I also had the situation when my wife used my chequebook my mistake for a while and none of the cheques were ever queried.

When I questioned this lack of security with the bank they said if I wanted anything done I'd have to raise a fraud case naming my wife as the fraudster!

JuicyJesus

iilg wrote: »

I meant with all the meticulousness re security/fraud nowadays, plus aren't cheques sent thru the post now without it being done recorded delivery.


Actually wonder why cheques haven't been phased out yet...

Thousands of cheque books are still ordered each day. It'd be ridiculously expensive to send them all recorded delivery.

They're a waste of space, time and money and an absolute fraud magnet. They were going to be phased out until everyone decided that old people can't use debit cards so they need cheques, which is b*llocks if you ask me but there you go.

thenudeone

iilg wrote: »

I meant with all the meticulousness re security/fraud nowadays, plus aren't cheques sent thru the post now without it being done recorded delivery.

I've had a current account for about 30 years and no bank has ever used recorded delivery to send me a cheque book.

iilg wrote: »

Actually wonder why cheques haven't been phased out yet...

According to this authoritative source, there are still over 1 billion cheque transactions a year (3.1m /day x 365 days)
http://www.ukpayments.org.uk/resources_publications/key_facts_and_figures/cheques_and_bankers'_drafts_facts_and_figures/

I'm not sure what your criteria for deciding something is no longer needed, but in my book, if something is used 1 billion times a year, it isn't quite time to stop it yet:D

iilg

thenudeone wrote: »

I've had a current account for about 30 years and no bank has ever used recorded delivery to send me a cheque book.

Sorry, I meant that people apparently send cheques through normal post, don't bother with recorded delivery. I guess some folks do as a precaution, especially if a large amount is involved. Last time I emailed a bank and asked about this they replied it was ok to send an initial cheque for a new account if I used one of the bank's pre-paid envelopes.

noh

thenudeone wrote: »

I've had a current account for about 30 years and no bank has ever used recorded delivery to send me a cheque book.



According to this authoritative source, there are still over 1 billion cheque transactions a year (3.1m /day x 365 days)
http://www.ukpayments.org.uk/resources_publications/key_facts_and_figures/cheques_and_bankers'_drafts_facts_and_figures/

I'm not sure what your criteria for deciding something is no longer needed, but in my book, if something is used 1 billion times a year, it isn't quite time to stop it yet:D

According to the same source
"By 2018 personal cheques will account for only 1.3% of all non-cash payments made by individuals"

I would not be sorry to see them go.

missile

Not just cheques. My wife regularly uses my credit card, she can't remember her pin.

missile

Strangely ........... ING insisted I make a deposit using a cheque from my linked account when opening a savings account.