If a check is written for bill, but account number is not mentioned on memo line, is it still processed?

On some of the bills I've seen mentions to add account number on check's memo line, but on others - no mention. Hence's this question. For the sake of example, suppose I've got bill from internet provider "Cheezenet". The bill does not mention to add "acc#" to memo line. If I've made the bill payable as directed to "Cheezenet" but put on memo line "internet bill" only, no "acc#", will that check still be process ? If yes, how ?

A company will make every effort to collect your money and apply it to the appropriate account. If all their efforts fail then they may mail the check back to you, call you, or shred/void the check and make note of it in the system so that if somebody calls to confirm payment then they have a trail of actions taken.

5 Answers 5

Normally, the check will get processed regardless of what appears on the memo line. You're generally sending the check back along with (a portion of) the bill and the bill is going to have the account number on it.

Adding information to the memo is helpful when something goes wrong and your check gets separated from the bill or you make a mistake and damage the account number on the stub you're sending back. If the two get separated, it's much easier to figure out what account number to apply the payment to if it's on the check. The company may be able to figure it out based on the name and address on the check as well but that's not always possible (and may rely on someone in the mail room taking some additional initiative).

In the vast majority of cases, it's not going to matter. But it's a relatively easy backstop to put in place for the small fraction of cases where it does matter.

In all cases, checks I mail have detachable slip that does have the account info, so what I am getting from your answer is that in 99% of cases checks should get processed, and that one 1% of "what if xyz happens" is what adding account number to the memo is supposed to handle. Correct me if I'm wrong there.

@SergiyKolodyazhnyy - Correct. The account number is just a backup in case the slip gets missed, damaged, or separated.

Usually checks have a name and address on it, which normally match what is on the bill. This covers the vast majority of cases. If you are using old checks that does not have updated information, they might be able to match the name and the amount, possibly even by just the first name and amount if you recently got married. One example where you might have an issue is where a non custodial parent pays a medical bill for their child and none of the contact information matches. Even if you have multiple accounts for an address, you can still piece together which account the check goes to.

This is why it is always a good idea to have your updated phone number on your checks so if there is an issue matching it to an account, they can call you.

In the UK, the only personal information on a cheque is the account holder's name. Even the bank address might just be a PO Box number. It's not normally possible to match a cheque to an individual (unless the name is very unusual). This one's quite old, but it's a good example:

Even if your cheque does have your name and address (and even phone number), the cheque is an instruction to the bank to pay the payee. There is no requirement to put any other information on the cheque to make that transaction happen, so it will happen if the payee asks their bank to credit the payment against one of their accounts.

In accounting for the payment within the payee company, the bank balance needs to match payments against customer accounts. However, even if it's not possible to match the cheque against a particular invoice, it will still be processed: the company will pay it into their bank and for accounting purposes it will be matched against a suspense account.

Suspense accounts are a kind of "dummy customer account", an internal escrow if you like, where money can rest until its proper place is known. They are a fundamental feature of double-entry bookkeeping.

The end result is that you have paid the company, and your bank should be able to tell where that cheque payment went. The company may not know you have paid them: if that's the case, they will ask you again, and that's when you give them details so they can find your payment in their suspense account and allocate it against your customer account.

The reason that the company will process the cheque instead of returning it is — apart from the lack of identifying information on the cheque — they want to be paid for the service rendered. If they were to return the cheque, even to the bank it's drawn on, they're giving up that payment and will be down on the deal.