We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. And while our site doesn’t feature every company or financial product available on the market, we’re proud that the guidance we offer, the information we provide and the tools we create are objective, independent, straightforward — and free.
So how do we make money? Our partners compensate us. This may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on the site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Here is a list of our partners.
How to Cancel a Lost Check
To cancel a check you have to gather check details and quickly notify your bank. Here's how to stop a payment.
Spencer Tierney is a consumer banking writer at NerdWallet. He has covered personal finance since 2013, with a focus on certificates of deposit and other banking-related topics. His work has been featured by The Washington Post, USA Today, The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times, among others. He is based in Berkeley, California.
Yuliya Goldshteyn is a banking editor at NerdWallet. She previously worked as an editor, a writer and a research analyst in industries ranging from health care to market research. She earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley and a master's degree in social sciences from the University of Chicago, with a focus on Soviet cultural history. She is based in Portland, Oregon.
Wealth psychology expert and coach Kathleen Burns Kingsbury, founder of KBK Wealth Connection and host of the Breaking Money Silence podcast, is an internationally published author and speaker. As an expert on financial psychology, Kathleen has appeared on television and her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, "PBS NewsHour," Money magazine, Today Money, Forbes and CNBC. Kathleen served as an adjunct faculty member at the McCallum Graduate School at Bentley University from 2009 to 2019 and currently teaches at Champlain College.
At NerdWallet, our content goes through a rigorous editorial review process. We have such confidence in our accurate and useful content that we let outside experts inspect our work.
Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.
Discover savings accounts that best fit your financial goals
Just answer a few questions to compare accounts that meet your needs.
If you lose a personal check or if you think it’s been stolen, you need to ask your bank or credit union to cancel the check. You’ll want to act quickly, before the check can be cashed. Here are the five steps to cancel a check.
1. See whether the check has already cleared
In general, you can stop payment on a check — known as a stop payment order — only if your bank hasn’t paid it. Log in to your bank account and look through your transaction history to see if the check has posted. If the check was stolen and the payment has cleared, it's important to act fast to report the fraud to your bank.
There are several details you’ll need before you contact your bank:
Your account number
The check number
The exact amount of the check
Other details you might need include the date on the check and the name of the recipient (the “payee”) and the person who signed the check, especially if you have a joint account and someone else wrote it.
3. Contact your bank
You must give your bank notice orally or in writing to request a stop payment. Banks recommend various ways to contact them, but generally you can make a request online, at a branch or by calling the phone number on the back of your debit card.
Assuming the check hasn’t already been presented to the bank, the stop payment request should take effect once the bank authorizes it.
4. Approve any stop payment fees
A few banks and credit unions don’t charge customers to cancel a check, but others have fees as high as $30 or more that would be debited from your account.
The fee amount could vary depending on how you contact the bank. You may be charged more for requesting a stop payment over the phone instead of online, for example. You have to authorize the stop payment order in order for your bank to process the fee.
4.20%SoFi members with direct deposit can earn up to 4.20% annual percentage yield (APY) on savings balances (including Vaults) and 1.20% APY on checking balances. There is no minimum direct deposit amount required to qualify for the 4.20% APY for savings. Members without direct deposit will earn 1.20% APY on all account balances in checking and savings (including Vaults). Interest rates are variable and subject to change at any time. These rates are current as of 04/24/2023. Additional information can be found at http://www.sofi.com/legal/banking-rate-sheet
4.75%Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is accurate as of 05/09/2023. APY is variable and subject to change at any time without notice. No monthly service charge. No minimum balance requirement. Must fund with 15 days of opening account.
These cash accounts combine services and features similar to checking, savings and/or investment accounts in one product. Cash management accounts are typically offered by non-bank financial institutions.
These cash accounts combine services and features similar to checking, savings and/or investment accounts in one product. Cash management accounts are typically offered by non-bank financial institutions.
4.50%Annual percentage yield (variable) is as of 5/8/23. 5.00% APY with a $75K deposit or 4.75% APY with a $25K deposit. New customers only with qualifying deposit. Terms apply.
Min. balance for APY
$0
CDs (certificates of deposit) are a type of savings account with a fixed rate and term, and usually have higher interest rates than regular savings accounts.
CDs (certificates of deposit) are a type of savings account with a fixed rate and term, and usually have higher interest rates than regular savings accounts.
3.30%Your annual percentage yield can be as high as 3.30% based on the following combined rate rewards: direct deposits (not including intra-bank transfers from another account) totaling $1,500 or more each month will earn 0.40%. A qualifying direct deposit is required for the remaining interest rate qualifications to apply. Ten (10) point-of-sale transactions per month using your Rewards Checking Visa® Debit Card for normal everyday purchases with a minimum of $3 per transaction, or enrolling in Account Aggregation/Personal Finance Manager (PFM) will earn 0.30%; maintaining an average daily balance of at least $2,500 per month in an Axos Self Directed Trading Invest account will earn 1.00%; maintaining an average daily balance of at least $2,500 a month in an Axos Managed Portfolio Invest account will earn 1.00%; and making a monthly payment to an open Axos Bank consumer loan (commercial and business loans excluded) via transfer from your Rewards Checking account will earn a maximum of 0.60%.
Monthly fee
$0
Money market accounts pay rates similar to savings accounts and have some checking features.
Money market accounts pay rates similar to savings accounts and have some checking features.
5. Note the expiration date on the stop payment order
A stop payment order typically lasts about six months to keep whoever has your lost or stolen check from trying to cash it at different times and places. Whenever the order ends, you can renew it for another period but most banks won’t cash a check that's more than six months old.
Frequently asked questions
Can I cancel recurring bill payments?
You can request stop payments for a series of checks and pre-authorized ACH debit transactions, such as recurring bill payments. Federal law requires you to make a request orally or in writing to your bank at least three business days before the transfer date. If you call, your bank may require written confirmation of the request within 14 days.
Can I stop payment on a cashier’s check?
Banks are not required to stop cashier’s checks, although they might in the case of fraud. Because these forms of payment rely on bank funds, a bank must honor them.
What if a stolen check has cleared my account?
A stop payment order is not your only line of defense if a check is stolen. If a fraudulent check goes through, you might be able to get charges removed by reporting the incident to your bank in a timely manner.
What about the payee?
Contact the payee if necessary. In the event of an error or lost check, let the recipient know about the request to stop payment and arrange a way to send a new check.
Can I cancel recurring bill payments?
You can request stop payments for a series of checks and pre-authorized ACH debit transactions, such as recurring bill payments. Federal law requires you to make a request orally or in writing to your bank at least three business days before the transfer date. If you call, your bank may require written confirmation of the request within 14 days.
Can I stop payment on a cashier’s check?
Banks are not required to stop cashier’s checks, although they might in the case of fraud. Because these forms of payment rely on bank funds, a bank must honor them.
What if a stolen check has cleared my account?
A stop payment order is not your only line of defense if a check is stolen. If a fraudulent check goes through, you might be able to get charges removed by reporting the incident to your bank in a timely manner.
What about the payee?
Contact the payee if necessary. In the event of an error or lost check, let the recipient know about the request to stop payment and arrange a way to send a new check.
