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Different Types of Checks (and how they’re all the same)

Ever opened a checking account and received free checks? Me too! Ever wondered what sort of checks you’d get because they had a weird name? Same here. “Imprinted” checks, “standard image” checks, and “wallet-style stock” checks…it could be a pleasant or a sad surprise when you get them in the mail, one never knows. But there’s a bit of simple logic we could follow–if a bank has a fancy name for its checks, does that mean the checks will be fancy, too?

Not necessarily. It turns out that when I called a number of banks and spoke to employees about it, each bank just had a different fancy names for their checks, no matter what kind of checks they were. The name was either a cover-up for basic checks — usually green, yellow, or a ‘delicate, pastoral’ blue–or similarly unnecessarily elaborately named designer checks–which really just means checks with pictures of Looney Tunes characters, Harley Davidson motorcycles, or very scenic…uh…scenes? (These are all postmodern gestures by the check-printing companies à la Richard Prince, I’m sure.)

The amount by which designer checks cost more than the basic checks depends on the bank and the check-printing company, and you might find it worth it to drop a couple extra dollars for the check set with beautiful mustangs. (One of the customer service agents told me there was only a $4 price difference between them, so “why not get the Disney checks?“)

Here’s the “Checks Name Rundown,” the result of conversations with a number of people at banks that offer free checks with at least one of their accounts. At the end of the day, I realized that even though there are a number of different check-printing companies, their offerings are nearly identical across banks. I also remembered, warmly, why I never use checks–because “delicate, pastoral” blue just isn’t my style. (The following links go to accounts with free checks at each bank.)
 

Check’s Name Rundown

 
- It turns out “safety” checks offered by Susquehanna Bank are actually safe. They’re printed in such a way that any solution that dissolves the ink on the check also leaves obvious traces, disallowing some forger from turning a check you wrote into a ‘blank check’ and sending a large amount to his Swiss bank account. Disappointingly, this is par for the course–a standard feature across all checks–so while it’s a legitimate “safety” precaution to have checks as cool-sounding as “safety” checks, they’re virtually identical to Beneficial Bank’s “Wallet Checks” and to Fifth Thirds Bank’s “custom” checks (which is just a misleading name for standard checks, if you ask me).

- There are two style-types of issued checks–”single” and “duplicate” styles. A “single”-style checkbook is a book of only checks, while “duplicate”-style checkbooks provide carbon copies of checks for your records. This recording technology is spectacular compared to anything–except for, of course, online banking and how it records debit card transactions automatically. (Sorry, had to go there.) Single style check names run the gamut from “wallet-style stock checks,” at Banner Bank in Walla Walla, WA, to the ever-so-fancy “basic check”, at RBC Centura in North Carolina.

- The number of checks in an introductory packs of checks can vary greatly. An “introductory” set of checks from Harris Bank include a whoppin’ 125 checks, while the “initial” checks at Bank of Internet and “starter” checks from 1st National Bank of Texas each include a measly 50 checks. If first impressions really are everything, Harris Bank would definitely be taking me out for dinner and a movie tonight.

 
The only check type that really sounded great to me was the “standard” check offered by First Tennessee Bank, but I couldn’t tell whether or not the customer service agent was excited about the check design too (pinstripe borders!) or just trying to lure me into buying them. Either way, I’ll have pinstripe-bordered checks stuck in my mind all night as I drive my Harley Davidson down to Disneyland.

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