cheque
Enable an AI agent to recognise a cheque, assess its payment and evidential state, and determine which handling actions are supported by the available evidence and applicable rules.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions
Instrument and representations Recognise the cheque and connect the physical or electronic evidence that represents it.
Cheque classification
Establish the payment-instruction form and distinguish neighbouring instruments.
Instrument type evidence
Record wording, drawee and issuer evidence supporting classification, including any unresolved subtype.
- What wording and participant arrangement identify this item as a cheque rather than a promissory note, money order or another payment instrument? definition
- Which cheque subtype and governing context are evidenced, and which remain uncertain? boundary
Original, image and duplicate linkage
Connect representations without treating every copy as a separate payment instruction.
Representation lineage
Record capture origin, represented sides, instrument identifiers and possible prior submissions.
- Where did each original, image or transcription come from, and what links it to this cheque? provenance
- What evidence shows whether this cheque or another representation of it has already been submitted for payment? action
Payment terms and restrictions Capture the cheque's payment instruction and markings that may constrain its use.
Amount, currency and date
Preserve observed terms separately from their interpretation.
Terms consistency
Identify missing, ambiguous or conflicting monetary and date information.
- What amount and currency appear in each relevant field, and do the numeric and written amounts agree? measurement
- What date is written, how is it interpreted, and what evidence establishes any effect of that date on presentment? boundary
Payee, crossing and restrictive text
Record the intended recipient and observable instructions concerning collection or transfer.
Collection route constraints
Connect exact wording and marks to supported interpretations under the applicable rules.
- What payee wording, crossing marks and restrictive annotations appear on the cheque? definition
- Which proposed deposit, cashing or transfer routes are supported by the applicable interpretation of those markings? action
Authority and instrument integrity Assess the authority behind the instruction and the reliability of the instrument presented.
Drawer, signatory and holder
Separate participant identities from authority to issue, transfer or collect the cheque.
Authority and endorsement evidence
Link signatures, endorsements and possession history to the roles and actions they purportedly support.
- What evidence links the signatory to the drawer and supports authority to issue this cheque? provenance
- What payee match, endorsement history or other evidence supports the current holder's proposed collection or transfer? action
Alteration and authenticity
Record suspicious features and verification results without overstating certainty.
Integrity assessment
Distinguish observed defects, suspected tampering and independently supported authenticity assessments.
- Which fields, signatures or physical features show erasure, overwriting, inconsistency or other possible alteration? measurement
- Which authenticity checks were performed, by whom, and what did each check actually establish? provenance
Presentment and payment outcome Track collection attempts and distinguish processing reports from payment completion.
Deposit and presentment attempts
Record each attempt through its collection route and associated evidence.
Attempt history
Associate submission, receipt and presentment events with a specific attempt and instrument representation.
- When, through which institution and channel, and using which representation was each collection attempt made? provenance
- What acknowledgement establishes whether the cheque was merely received, accepted for deposit or presented to the drawee? boundary
Credit, return and finality
Reconcile bank reports and account effects without inferring final payment from availability alone.
Outcome evidence
Record credited amounts, holds, return reasons, reversals and the evidence supporting any finality assessment.
- What amounts were credited, made available, held or reversed, and when were those effects reported? measurement
- What bank evidence and applicable rules establish payment completion, return or an unresolved outcome? boundary
Exceptions and next actions Determine how loss, payment-control requests and failed collection affect further handling.
Loss, stop and cancellation
Track events intended to prevent use or payment and distinguish requests from confirmed effects.
Payment control status
Record missing-instrument reports, stop-payment requests and cancellation evidence with their scope and timing.
- Who reported loss or requested a stop or cancellation, and what evidence supports their authority? provenance
- What confirmation establishes the request's effective scope, timing and current status? action
Re-presentment, replacement and retention
Evaluate subsequent handling against prior attempts, current controls and evidence-retention requirements.
Next-action eligibility
Identify the evidence and authorisation needed to retry collection, arrange replacement or retain or dispose of the original.
- Given the return reason and prior payment evidence, what conditions must be met before re-presentment or replacement? action
- Which applicable bank or legal requirements determine how long the original and its images must be retained and when disposal is permitted? boundary
Evidence and external alignment What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.
Reported evidence
Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.
Kinds and varieties
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of cheque this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Identifiers and schemes
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of cheque this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Standards and regulation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of cheque this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Real-world use
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of cheque this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Typical measurements
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of cheque this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Failure modes and hazards
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of cheque this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Regional variation
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of cheque this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart
Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.
- Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of cheque this model covers, and on what evidence? provenance
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.MED
- Other names and narrower kinds
- cashier's check, giant cheque, trust receipt, remotely created cheque, Eurocheque, certified check, banker's draft, post-dated cheque, antedated cheque, blank cheque
What it is Filled
A cheque is an unconditional order in writing, signed by the drawer, addressed to a bank as drawee, requiring that bank to pay on demand a sum certain in money to a named payee, to the payee's order, or to bearer; in common-law systems it is a bill of exchange drawn on a banker and payable on demand.
In scope
- Cheque identity and the relationship between an original instrument, its images and extracted data
- Payment terms, including amount, currency, payee, date and drawee bank
- Drawer, signatory, holder and endorsement roles
- Evidence of completeness, authenticity, alteration and handling restrictions
- Issuance, delivery, deposit, presentment, return and payment history
- Evidence and conditions supporting the next cheque-handling action
Out of scope
- The bank account's full balance, transaction history and operating mandate
- The underlying purchase, invoice, debt or other reason for payment
- Bank-wide clearing infrastructure and payment-system operation
- General identity, corporate authority and fraud-investigation models
- Legal proceedings and remedies arising from non-payment
Why it exists Filled
Enable an AI agent to recognise a cheque, assess its payment and evidential state, and determine which handling actions are supported by the available evidence and applicable rules.
Distinguishing features Filled
- It presents a payment instruction directed to an identified bank, rather than merely a promise by its maker to pay; whether it qualifies as a cheque depends on the applicable rules.
- It is recognisable as an individual cheque instrument with recorded payment terms, rather than a general account mandate or a standing payment instruction.
- Possession or receipt of the cheque does not itself establish that its payment has completed, unlike treating an item solely as evidence of a completed payment.
- A cheque image or extracted record represents an underlying instrument; the model must establish whether that representation is usable for a particular action.
- Classification against bank drafts, money orders and other similar instruments depends on issuer, drawee, wording and payment arrangement, rather than the document's title alone.
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Sign, alter, write or endorse a cheque for anyone without authority.
- Pay in or cash a cheque made out to someone else.
- Copy or share a cheque's account details beyond the purpose given.
- Accept a cheque as cleared funds before the bank has cleared it.
Only with a human decision
- Issuing or cancelling a cheque for a person or business.
- Reporting a suspected fraudulent cheque.
May
- Read the details on a cheque and record them for the account holder.
- Remind the account holder of cheques that are uncashed or nearing expiry.
Moral aspects Filled
- Cheques carry account details and signatures, which enable fraud if exposed.
- Older people still rely on cheques and are targeted by cheque scams.
Who is affected
- Account holders
- Payees
- Banks
Owners Filled
Steward
The drawer who writes it; the bank on which it is drawn pays and records it.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q1668556 - registry parent class
- Q190122 - registry parent class
- Q3359388 - registry parent class
- Q831772 - registry parent class
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.cheque
- Wikidata: Q80042 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80042)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- Instrument form: Paper original, cheque image, proposed electronic original, extracted record, unknown
- Cheque identifier: Cheque number linked to drawer account and drawee bank; uniqueness unverified unless established
- Payment amount: Decimal monetary amount with currency; numeric and written readings retained separately where present
- Instrument dates: Date as written, interpreted calendar date, interpretation confidence and relevant event dates
- Payment participants: Drawer, drawee bank, named payee, signatory, current holder and collecting institution
- Payee and restriction wording: Verbatim payee wording, crossing marks, restrictive text and endorsements, each with an interpretation status
- Completeness and consistency: Unchecked, apparently complete, missing terms, conflicting terms, unreadable
- Authenticity assessment: Unassessed, evidence supports authenticity, suspected alteration, suspected counterfeit, unresolved
- Processing position: Evidence-backed events such as issued, delivered, deposited, presented, returned or reported paid; conflicting reports retained
- Credit and payment certainty: No credit evidenced, provisional credit reported, funds available reported, payment confirmed, reversal reported, finality unresolved
- Applicable rule context: Relevant jurisdiction, cheque subtype, bank terms and clearing arrangement, with supporting references
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- A printed paper form with payee line, amount in words and figures, date and signature.
- Machine-readable bank and account codes along the bottom edge.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- Read and reconcile payment terms from the cheque's available representations.
- Link an original, its images and bank records while flagging possible duplicate instruments or submissions.
- Assess whether evidence supports deposit, presentment or transfer through a proposed route.
- Track payment attempts, returned-item reasons and the distinction between provisional credit and confirmed payment.
- Prepare or route an authorised stop-payment, cancellation or re-presentment request when applicable conditions are established.
- Hold processing and request specific evidence when authority, authenticity or payment outcome is unresolved.
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Forgery, alteration and overpayment scams.
- Bounced cheques cause fees and loss for payees.
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- The Bills of Exchange Act 1882, enacted by the United Kingdom Parliament, provides the statutory framework for cheques in the United Kingdom.
- ISO 1004-1, issued by the International Organization for Standardization, specifies the E-13B character shapes and dimensions used for magnetic ink character recognition on compatible cheques.
Context of use required Filled
- A cheque is used to instruct a bank to pay money from an account to a specified recipient or other permitted holder.
- It is encountered in personal and business payments, bank deposits, clearing processes and financial records.
- Its practical use depends on the banking system, jurisdiction and whether the document remains eligible for payment.
Sources Filled
- Bills of Exchange Act 1882 - Statutory definition of a cheque as a bill of exchange drawn on a banker payable on demand (s.73) and the English-law crossing rules (ss.76-82).
- Cheques Act 1992 - Account-payee crossing as a statutory non-transferable collection instruction in UK practice.
- Uniform Commercial Code, Article 3 (Negotiable Instruments) and Article 4 (Bank Deposits and Collections) - United States definition of a check as a demand draft drawn on a bank (including cashier's and teller's checks), plus presentment, dishonour, stale-dated items, and collecting-bank duties.
- Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21 Act), Public Law 108-100 - Legal status of substitute checks and image replacement documents after truncation, and the shift from paper presentment to image exchange.
- Convention providing a Uniform Law for Cheques, Geneva, 19 March 1931 - Civil-law uniform cheque rules (crossing, endorsement, presentment periods) adopted or adapted in many non-common-law jurisdictions.
- Wikidata item Q80042: cheque - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Cheque - general description of the item
Open questions
- Which jurisdictions and clearing arrangements should the initial model support, and how do they define cheque validity, date effects and payment finality?
- Which cheque subtypes belong within this registered thing, particularly cashier's cheques, bank drafts, certified cheques and electronic originals?
- What evidence is sufficient to interpret crossings, restrictive wording and endorsements in each supported context?
- Which bank events reliably distinguish deposit acceptance, provisional credit, available funds, payment confirmation and remaining reversal exposure?
- What rules govern image-based collection, original retention, duplicate presentment, stop-payment effectiveness and re-presentment after return?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q80042/spec.json