Cashier's Check

A cashier's check (cashier's cheque, banker's cheque, bank cheque, official cheque, demand draft, teller's cheque, bank draft or treasurer's cheque) is a check guaranteed by a bank, drawn on the bank's own funds and signed by a cashier. Cashier's checks are treated as guaranteed funds because the bank, rather than the purchaser, is responsible for paying the amount. They are commonly required for real estate and brokerage transactions.

When a customer asks a bank for a cashier's check, the bank debits the amount from the customer's account immediately, and then the bank assumes the responsibility for covering the cashier's check. This is in contrast with a personal check, where the bank does not debit the amount from the customer's account until the check is deposited or cashed by the recipient.

Cashier's checks deposited into a bank account are usually cleared the next day. It is the customer's right to request "next-day availability" when depositing a cashier's check in person. Most banks do not clear them instantly. However, banks are permitted to take back money from a "cleared" check one or two weeks later if subsequent processing finds it to be fraudulent. Because customers believe the checks have been found valid and have been converted to cash in hand, customers are readily defrauded by schemes that ask them to part with goods or a portion of the money if it is cleared in a timely manner.

A cashier's check is different from a certified check, which is a personal check written by the customer and drawn on the customer's account, on which the bank certifies that the signature is genuine and that the customer has sufficient funds in the account to cover the check. And it should not be confused with a counter check, which is a non-personalized check provided by the bank for the convenience of a customer in making withdrawals or payments, but which is not guaranteed and is functionally equivalent to a personal check.