Endorsement Types
Conditional Endorsement Restrictions
- Checks made payable to a business must be endorsed as "pay to the order of [Business Name]" or "deposit only" with the business account number. Checks made payable to a business must be deposited into the account in that business name. - Items payable to a business must be deposited into a business account and cannot be deposited into a personal account. - While third party checks are accepted, they must be done so with the understanding that we do accept the risk. Bank Management may require a phone call to the third party to run ID Authentication, a release of funds, and/or up to asking the third party to be present. This is a bank management decision as to when this is required. We do want to service our customer and take due care when these transactions occur. This is a bank decision on how you will handle on a case by case basis. - Wintrust does NOT accept conditional endorsements or qualified endorsements. - Wintrust does NOT accept third party temporary check or foreign checks. - Wintrust does NOT accept third party government checks.
Blank
A blank endorsement is simply the payee's signature on the back of the check. -The endorsement must appear exactly as it does on the face of the check. If the payee's name is misspelled, the payee must misspell his/her name and then write his/her name correctly. If the payee's name is qualified with other words, such as "John Smith, trustee of Mary Smith," the payee must write "John Smith, trustee of Mary Smith."
Special
A special endorsement is use to transfer the rights to a check over to another party. It is a safer way to transfer rights than using two bland endorsements. In order to use a special endorsement, the payee of the check writes, "Pay to the order of," then writes the name of the party to whom he/she is transferring the check, and then signs his/her name. The person to whom the check was transferred must endorse the check before it can be used for payment or deposit. NOTE: Checks made payable to a business may NOT be second endorsed.
Qualified
One of the responsibilities of the endorser is to make good on the check if it is returned for non-sufficient funds. This endorsement relieves the endorser of the legal responsibility. These must also be brought to the Collections Department. This endorsement includes the payee's signature and the phrase "Without Recourse."
Restrictive
This endorsement establishes limits on how the check can be used. -However, if the payee is the person putting the restriction on the check's use, then a signature is not required.If a second endorser is putting a restriction on the check then both parties must sign the check. The most common restrictive endorsement is "For Deposit Only."
Conditional
This endorsement requires the payee to meet certain conditions before a payment is made. These are rarely used and rarely accepted, so they must be brought to your supervisor's attention immediately as to send them to the Collections Department. An example would be "Pay to John Smith if he finishes my roof by November 1, 2012".