

Some supermarkets and retail chains, including Walmart, offer check-cashing services, but you’ll face steep fees if you choose this route. You can also visit your own bank to cash a personal check, but you might be unable to cash checks for more than $200. However, you may be charged a fee if you don’t have an account with the bank. If the check was written by one of the bank’s account holders, the account has sufficient funds to cover the check and you can identify yourself as the payee named on the check, the bank or credit union will likely cash it on the spot. If you have a personal check you want to exchange for cash immediately, the best place to go is a branch operated by the bank named on the check. Add a note to the payee on the “Memo” line in the lower left.Sign your name on the “Signature” line.Spell out the value on the “Dollar amount” line, with cents expressed as a fraction (e.g., “Nineteen dollars and 99/100”).


Checks are essentially written instructions ordering another bank or financial institution to pay a specified amount from the check writer’s account to the payee-the person or business named on the check. Personal checks are slips of paper issued by your bank that feature the bank’s routing number and your account number.
