question: Why (in the US) do I need to sign the back of a check that is made out to me?
comment: I am not a banking expert, but I have deposited checks without signatures before, as long as the name on the check matches the name on the account. It may help that I know my bank staff and they know me, but I imagine it would work if the names match. Do you know your bankers?
passages: The Uniform Commercial Code permits the process of check drafting by defining signature in the following regulation: Uniform Commercial Code, Title 1, Section 1-201 (39). This regulation only makes check drafting possible, not "required." Your bank may deny your items for deposit if they have reason to be suspicious. Suspicious items are covered in Regulation CC 229.13, Exceptions. Authorization is indicated on a check draft in the signature blank, usually by a statement such as the following: "This draft is preauthorized by your depositor, no signature required.".
   The payee's name, the written and numeric amount to be tendered, the remitter's information, and other tracking information (such as the branch of issue), are printed on the front of the check. The check is generally signed by one or two bank employees or officers; however, some banks issue cashier's checks featuring a facsimile signature of the bank's chief executive officer or other senior official.
   As documented, above, in the texts from the US District Courts in California and Texas, the NEF today serves as the form of authentication by the Clerk and counsel of the entry of records, in same way as the traditional Certificate of Service.
   As cheque usage increased during the 19th and 20th centuries additional items were added to increase security or to make processing easier for the bank or financial institution. A signature of the drawer was required to authorize the cheque and this is the main way to authenticate the cheque. Second it became customary to write the amount in words as well as in numbers to avoid mistakes and make it harder to fraudulently alter the amount after the cheque had been written. It is not a legal requirement to write down the amount in words, although some banks will refuse to accept cheques that do not have the amount in both numbers and words.
   Due to an increase in fraudulent activities, starting in 2006 many banks insist upon waiting for a cashier's check to clear the originating institution before making funds available for withdrawal. Personal checks will thus have the same utility in such transactions.
  
  Section::::Legal definition.
   Demand draft fraud can be frustrating for consumers, because unlike credit card or ACH disputes, consumers are not often given any funds back until after investigation finds that the draft was unauthorized. In addition, filing a dispute frequently requires a notarized signature, since this is the only way one bank can dispute a paper item with another bank.
  
  Section::::Fraud and regulation.:Regulation.
   In 2005, the US Federal Reserve issued a regulation (effective July 1, 2006) shifting responsibility for payment of fraudulent demand drafts from the bank it is drawn on to the bank that accepts it as a deposit. Most recent developments in check drafting, which helps to facilitate checks by phone, checks by fax and online check payments is the new "Substitute Check Law" known as Check 21, enacted on October 28, 2004, which has greatly increased the use of check drafting.
   Cashier's cheques and banker's drafts, also known as bank cheques, banker's cheques or treasurer's cheques, are cheques issued against the funds of a financial institution rather than an individual account holder. Typically, the term "cashier's check" is used in the US and "banker's draft" is used in the UK and most of the Commonwealth. The mechanism differs slightly from country to country but in general the bank issuing the cheque or draft will allocate the funds at the point the cheque is drawn. This provides a guarantee, save for a failure of the bank, that it will be honoured. Cashier's cheques are perceived to be as good as cash but they are still a cheque, a misconception sometimes exploited by scam artists. A lost or stolen cheque can still be stopped like any other cheque, so payment is not completely guaranteed.
   A side effect of the Check 21 Act is that, because the digital image of a check is now considered a legal document, bank customers who get paid with a check can scan an image of the check and deposit it into their account from their home or office if their bank supports doing so.
   Check drafting is creating a valid legal copy of the customer's check, on the customer's behalf. Because it is created by the merchant, no signature is required. Instead, a signature disclaimer or facsimile is entered in the signature blank. A check draft is typically for deposit only. This allows fraud by knowing the individual's bank account numbers.
   The specification for US cheques is given by ANSI committee X9 Technical Report 2.
  
  Section::::Cheques around the world.:Turkey.
  
  In Turkey, cheques are usually used for commercial transactions only, and using post-dated cheques is legally permissible.
  
  Section::::Cheque fraud.
   In 1969 cheque guarantee cards were introduced in several countries, allowing a retailer to confirm that a cheque would be honoured when used at a point of sale. The drawer would sign the cheque in front of the retailer, who would compare the signature to the signature on the card and then write the cheque-guarantee-card number on the back of the cheque. Such cards were generally phased out and replaced by debit cards, starting in the mid-1990s.
   A cashier's check is not the same as a teller's check, also known as a banker's draft, which is a check provided to a customer of a bank or acquired from a bank for remittance purposes and drawn by the bank, and drawn on another bank or payable through or at a bank. 
   Contrast this with the situation where a trusted employee signs a check without permission. The employer must still honor the check despite the fact that the check was a fraudulent negotiable instrument. Here, the employer had a reasonable opportunity to avoid the obligation by restricting access to the checks.
  
  Fraud in the factum is often contrasted with fraud in the inducement.
   Nonetheless, if "the customer has given notice to the bank of the postdating describing the check with reasonable certainty" the Uniform Commercial Code requires that the notice to be honored. In practice, whether the check writer has any redress against the financial institution where the payee deposited the check may depend on whether it can be shown that the check was accepted over the counter without examination.
  
  Section::::Practices in various countries.:Serbia.
   In the United States, national banks are permitted to pay checks even though payment occurs prior to the date of the check. According to the Comptroller of the Currency: "A check is a negotiable instrument—the payee, the person to whom the check is written, may negotiate it through the banking system at any time" and check writers seeking redress must restrict themselves to pursuing the payee.
   A substitute check (also called an Image Replacement Document or IRD) is a negotiable instrument used to represent the digital reproduction of an original paper check. In the United States, as a negotiable payment instrument, a substitute check maintains the status of a "legal check" in lieu of the original paper check as authorized by the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (also known as the "Check 21 Act"). Instead of presenting the original paper checks, financial institutions and payment processing centers electronically transmit data from a substitute check by either the settlement process through the United States Federal Reserve System or by clearing the deposit based on a private agreement between member financial institutions of a clearinghouse that operates under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).
   Remotely created checks are orders of payment created by the payee and authorized by the customer remotely, using a telephone or the Internet by providing the required information including the MICR code from a valid check. They do not bear the signatures of the customers like ordinary checks. Instead, they bear a legend statement "Authorized by Drawer". This type of instrument is usually used by credit card companies, utility companies, or telemarketers. Remotely created checks are vulnerable to fraud.
  
  Section::::Use.
   In most jurisdictions, passing a cheque for an amount of money the writer knows is not in the account at the time of negotiation (or available for overdraft protection) is usually considered a violation of criminal law. However, the general practice followed by banks has been to refrain from prosecuting cheque writers if the cheque reaches the bank after sufficient funds have been deposited, thereby allowing it to clear. But the account holder is normally held fully liable for all bank penalties, civil penalties, and criminal charges allowable by law in the event the cheque does not clear the bank.
   Cashier's check
  
  A cashier's check (or cashier'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.
  
  Genuine cashier's checks deposited into a bank account are usually cleared the next day. The customer can request "next-day availability" when depositing a cashier's check in person. Forged cashier's checks may bounce 2 weeks after being deposited.
   Consumers are most likely to see the effects of this act when they notice that certain checks (or images thereof) are no longer being returned to them with their monthly statement, even though other checks are still being returned. Another effect of the law is that it is now legal for anyone to use a computer scanner or mobile phone to capture images of checks and deposit them electronically, a process known as remote deposit.
  
  Check 21 is not subject to ACH rules, therefore transactions are not subject to NACHA (The Electronic Payments Association) rules, regulations, fees and fines.
  
  Section::::Truncation.
   Section::::Sources of information.
  
  The central source for information regarding NEFs remains in CM/ECF manuals.
  
  For example, the most explicit definition of the power and effect of NEF in the Central District of California, one of the most populous in the U.S., including Los Angeles County, remained in the "Unofficial Manual" of CM/ECF as follows (Rev 07, 2008, page 13):
  
  A more specific definition is found in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas Administrative Policies and Procedures for Electronic Filing.
   Under the Check 21 Act, all U.S. paper checks and check-like instruments are eligible for truncation and reconversion to substitute checks, including consumer (personal) checks, commercial (business) checks, money orders, traveler's checks, cash advance or convenience checks tied to credit and charge card accounts, controlled disbursement checks, and payable through drafts, in addition to government warrants and U.S. Treasury checks. The Check 21 Act permits any financial institution (such as a commercial bank or credit union) that participates in the check collection process to remove or truncate the original paper check from the forward collection or return process and reconvert the paper check to a substitute check without first requiring an existing agreement between the bank of first deposit () and the "paying bank."
   Remotely created check
  
  In the United States, remotely created checks (also called a demand draft, a tele-check, check by phone, check by fax, or e-check) are orders of payment created by the payee using a telephone or the Internet.
   In the US, the terminology for a cheque historically varied with the type of financial institution on which it is drawn. In the case of a savings and loan association it was a "negotiable order of withdrawal" (compare Negotiable Order of Withdrawal account); if a credit union it was a "share draft." "Checks" were associated with chartered commercial banks. However, common usage has increasingly conformed to more recent versions of Article 3, where "check" means any or all of these negotiable instruments. Certain types of cheques drawn on a government agency, especially payroll cheques, may be called a "payroll warrant".
  
presuppositions: It is always necessary to sign the back of a check that is made out to you. Checks need to be signed on the back.
corrections: If your bank staff knows you, it is not always necessary to sign the back of a check made out to you. I have deposited checks without signing them as long as the name on the check matches the name on the account.
raw_presuppositions: It is always necessary to sign the back of a check that is made out to you. Checks need to be signed on the back.
raw_corrections: If your bank staff knows you, it is not always necessary to sign the back of a check made out to you. I have deposited checks without signing them as long as the name on the check matches the name on the account.