A chequebook (US: checkbook) is a bound pad of blank, pre-printed cheques issued by a bank to the holder of a current account or checking account. Each leaf is a form the account holder fills in and signs to order the bank to pay a named payee a stated sum from the account. The book usually also holds a record section, either a stub (counterfoil) on each leaf or a separate register, where the writer notes what was paid, to whom and when.
The chequebook is the physical tool; the instrument itself is described on the cheque page. Chequebooks were once standard issue with every current account. Their use has fallen sharply as card payments, direct debits and instant transfers took over, but they remain common in the United States, in parts of South Asia including Pakistan, and for certain payments such as rent deposits, legal fees and gifts.
Chequebook in plain terms
A chequebook is a pad of signed permission slips. Each slip says, in effect, "Dear bank, please pay this person this much from my account." You fill in the name, the amount in figures and in words, the date, and you sign. The person you give it to takes it to their own bank, and the money moves from your account to theirs.
The little stub you keep is your memory. Because a cheque can take a few days to be paid, and the money only leaves your account when it is, the stub reminds you what you have promised, so that you do not spend the same money twice and get a cheque bounced.
What a chequebook contains
- Pre-printed details. Each leaf shows the bank's name and branch, the account holder's name, and a coded line at the bottom carrying the cheque number, the bank's sort code or routing number and the account number.
- Blank fields. Spaces for the date, payee name, amount in words and figures, and the drawer's signature.
- Crossings. In the UK, most cheques come pre-printed with two parallel lines and "A/C payee" (account payee), which means the cheque can only be paid into the payee's own account, not cashed or passed on.
- Stubs or a register. A place to record each cheque and keep a running balance.
- Sometimes, paying-in slips. Some books include a few deposit slips at the back for paying money in.
The coded line uses magnetic ink character recognition (MICR), which lets sorting machines read the numbers even if the cheque is stamped or written over. The US and UK use the E-13B font; France and several other countries use CMC-7.
Security features
Because a stolen or altered cheque can empty an account, chequebooks are printed on security paper with several protections. Common features include background patterns that show "VOID" or smudge when copied or erased, microprinting that blurs when photocopied, chemically sensitive paper that stains if solvents are used, ultraviolet marks and watermarks. In the UK, cheque printing for clearing must meet the industry standard set by the clearing scheme. Writers add their own protections: drawing a line through unused space, writing the amount in words close to the left edge, and never signing a blank cheque.
A lost or stolen chequebook should be reported to the bank at once, so that it can stop the remaining cheques. A cheque written for more than the account holds may be returned unpaid for non-sufficient funds, which can lead to fees and, in some countries, legal consequences. In Pakistan, for example, dishonouring a cheque with dishonest intent is a criminal offence under section 489-F of the Pakistan Penal Code.
Ordering and using cheques today
Banks usually issue a chequebook on request, sometimes for a fee, and may refuse one on basic or digital-only accounts. Many digital banks do not offer cheques at all. Cheques written from the book are deposited by the payee with a paying-in slip, handed to a cashier at a bank branch, at a cash machine that accepts deposits, or by photographing them in a banking app, known as remote deposit capture.
Clearing has gone digital even where the paper survives. The UK moved to the Image Clearing System between 2017 and 2019, so cheques are now exchanged as images and normally clear within two working days. The US Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (2003) made a printed "substitute check" made from an image legally equivalent to the original. In both countries, banks generally treat a cheque more than about six months old as stale and may decline to pay it. The UK cheque guarantee card scheme, which once promised payment up to a set amount, closed in 2011.
Some uses persist because a cheque leaves a clear paper trail and needs no bank details from the payee. Alternatives include the banker's draft, which is drawn on the bank itself and so cannot bounce, and electronic options such as Faster Payments in the UK or ACH transfers in the US.