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.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
Researched by: Codex + Grok
Purpose and description
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.
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.
It can be 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..
Distinguishing features
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.
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
- 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
Characteristics
- Instrument form
- Paper original, cheque image, proposed electronic original, extracted record, unknown Determines what evidence is available and which handling capabilities require verification.
- Cheque identifier
- Cheque number linked to drawer account and drawee bank; uniqueness unverified unless established Supports reconciliation and duplicate detection without assuming cheque numbers are globally unique.
- Payment amount
- Decimal monetary amount with currency; numeric and written readings retained separately where present Establishes the intended payment and exposes conflicting or unreadable terms.
- Instrument dates
- Date as written, interpreted calendar date, interpretation confidence and relevant event dates Supports assessment of post-dating, elapsed time and applicable processing windows.
- Payment participants
- Drawer, drawee bank, named payee, signatory, current holder and collecting institution Separates who instructs payment, who is expected to pay and who seeks to receive it.
- Payee and restriction wording
- Verbatim payee wording, crossing marks, restrictive text and endorsements, each with an interpretation status Preserves the evidence needed to determine permitted collection or transfer routes.
- Completeness and consistency
- Unchecked, apparently complete, missing terms, conflicting terms, unreadable Prevents an agent from treating a plausible-looking cheque as ready for processing.
- Authenticity assessment
- Unassessed, evidence supports authenticity, suspected alteration, suspected counterfeit, unresolved Controls reliance on the instrument while distinguishing observation from confirmed authenticity.
- Processing position
- Evidence-backed events such as issued, delivered, deposited, presented, returned or reported paid; conflicting reports retained Identifies progress without assuming a single irreversible lifecycle.
- Credit and payment certainty
- No credit evidenced, provisional credit reported, funds available reported, payment confirmed, reversal reported, finality unresolved Separates account availability from evidence that cheque payment is complete.
- Applicable rule context
- Relevant jurisdiction, cheque subtype, bank terms and clearing arrangement, with supporting references Makes action eligibility conditional on the rules that actually govern this cheque.
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 6 bundles · 11 layers · 18 findings · 28 questions.
Instrument and representations Recognise the cheque and connect the physical or electronic evidence that represents it.
An agent must distinguish the payment instrument from a photograph, transcription or duplicate submission.
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 discrepancies, date interpretation and restrictive wording can change whether and how a cheque may be handled.
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.
A visible signature, possession of the paper and an apparently complete face answer different questions and require separate evidence.
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 acceptance, available funds, a returned item and confirmed payment describe materially different states.
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.
An agent must avoid treating a requested stop as effective or initiating another collection attempt while an earlier outcome remains unresolved.
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.
A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.
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.
- Open (uncrossed) cheque, payable in cash over the counter
- Crossed cheque, including general, special, and account-payee crossings that restrict payment to collection through a bank
- Bearer cheque, payable to whoever holds the instrument
- Order cheque, payable to a named person or their order and transferred by endorsement
- Certified cheque, on which the drawee bank has marked that funds are set aside
- Cashier's cheque or banker's draft, drawn by a bank on itself
- Traveller's cheque, a prepaid dual-signature instrument issued by a financial institution
- Substitute check (image replacement document), a paper reproduction given legal equivalence to the original under cheque-truncation law
- 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.
- Wikidata - Q21177 - Item for the payment instrument (cheque/check), not the restaurant bill or other homonyms.
- US MICR line (E-13B) - 9-digit ABA routing transit number + account number + cheque serial - Machine-printed on the MICR clear band; routing number uses the ABA checksum.
- UK cheque MICR - 6-digit sort code + 8-digit account number + cheque serial - Sort code identifies the drawee branch or processing unit under Pay.UK clearing.
- Cheque serial number - Issuer-assigned sequential number printed on the form and in the MICR line - Identifies the instrument within a given account, not globally unique.
- ISO 1004 MICR character set - E-13B or CMC-7 - Print specification for magnetic-ink characters used on cheques; CMC-7 is common in France, Spain, and parts of Latin America.
- 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.
- Bills of Exchange Act 1882 (UK Parliament) - definition, negotiation, and crossing
- Cheques Act 1957 and Cheques Act 1992 (UK Parliament) - collecting-bank protection and account-payee
- Uniform Commercial Code Articles 3 and 4 (Uniform Law Commission / American Law Institute; enacted by US states)
- Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, Pub. L. 108-100 (United States Congress)
- Regulation CC, 12 CFR Part 229 (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System) - funds availability and substitute-check warranties
- Convention providing a Uniform Law for Cheques, Geneva 1931 (League of Nations; implementing states)
- Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (Parliament of India) - cheque as a bill drawn on a banker, plus crossing
- ISO 1004 (International Organization for Standardization) - MICR print specifications
- ANSI X9.100 series (Accredited Standards Committee X9) - US check paper, MICR, and image-exchange formats
- Payments Canada Standard 006 (Payments Canada) - Canadian MICR and image specifications
- 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.
- A drawer writes or laser-prints a paper form, dates and signs it, and delivers it to the payee, who deposits it with a collecting bank for truncation and image clearing against the drawee account.
- Households and small firms still use personal or business cheques where the payee's account details are unknown, or where a paper audit trail is wanted (rent, clubs, local suppliers, legal retainers).
- Insurers, courts, and some public bodies disburse claims, refunds, and settlements by cheque when electronic enrolment is missing.
- Remote deposit capture: the payee photographs the cheque on a phone or scanner; the bank presents the image and may destroy or mark the paper to block a second presentment.
- Corporate accounts payable still print laser cheques in sectors such as US construction and professional services, often behind positive-pay files sent to the drawee bank.
- Traveller's cheques and cheque-guarantee cards are largely residual; surviving paper volume is concentrated in the United States, France, and parts of the Commonwealth, and is sparse in much of northern Europe.
- 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.
- Face amount (sum certain) - Smallest currency subunit up to bank- or scheme-imposed maxima; no inherent legal cap - ISO 4217 currency units of the instrument
- US personal-cheque blank size - 152.4 × 69.85 - mm (6 × 2.75 in)
- US business-cheque blank size - about 210-216 × 89 - mm (commonly 8.5 × 3.5 in)
- MICR clear-band height from bottom edge - 15.9 (5/8 in) reserved band - mm
- Stale-date / bank-not-obliged period - typically 3-6 months after the date; US UCC 4-404 uses 6 months - months
- Clearing cycle after truncation - same day to about 6 business days depending on scheme and return window - business days
- 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.
- Dishonour for insufficient funds, closed account, or a stop-payment order (bounced or NSF cheque).
- Forged drawer's signature, counterfeit blanks, or material alteration of payee or amount.
- Fraudulent endorsement or theft of a bearer or uncrossed instrument.
- Cheque kiting: drawing against uncleared deposits between accounts.
- Duplicate presentment, especially depositing by remote capture and again as paper.
- Payment of a crossed or account-payee cheque over the counter, defeating the collection restriction.
- Stale-dated, undated, or post-dated items presented outside the intended window.
- Unreadable MICR or poor image quality causing reject, delay, or mis-posting.
- Positive-pay mismatch (serial, amount, or payee) blocking a genuine payment or letting a forged one through if the file is wrong.
- 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.
- Spelling and everyday name: cheque (UK, Ireland, most Commonwealth) versus check (United States).
- Crossing (general, special, account-payee) is central in UK, Indian, and other Commonwealth practice and is not a US feature; US equivalents are 'for deposit only' endorsements and positive pay.
- Routing identifiers differ: ABA transit numbers (US), sort codes (UK), CPA institution/transit numbers (Canada), CMC-7 MICR (France and several other civil-law countries).
- Paper cheques remain ordinary in the United States and still visible in France; the UK moved high volume to the Image Clearing System and withdrew the cheque-guarantee card; several northern European systems have effectively abandoned consumer cheques.
- Legal parentage splits: common-law bills-of-exchange statutes versus the Geneva Uniform Law for Cheques 1931 and its national implementations.
- India uses cheque truncation (CTS-2010) and, for higher-value items, positive pay; many African and Caribbean systems still mix paper clearing with truncation.
- Bank cheque products are named differently: cashier's check and teller's check (US) versus banker's draft (UK and Commonwealth).
- 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.
- Bill of exchange (term draft) - A cheque is specifically drawn on a banker and payable on demand; a trade bill may be drawn on a non-bank drawee and payable at a future time.
- Promissory note - A note is a promise by the maker to pay; a cheque is an order to a bank to pay from the drawer's account.
- Money order - A money order is prepaid and issued by a bank, postal operator, or money-transmitter against funds already taken in, not a demand draft on the purchaser's transaction account.
- Credit transfer / giro / ACH / wire - Those are account-to-account payment orders without a negotiable paper instrument that can be endorsed or transferred by delivery.
- Documentary collection draft - Tied to shipping documents and often payable at sight or tenor against goods; a cheque is an uncovered demand order on a bank account.
- Treasury warrant or government payment order - May look like a cheque but is often a public-law payment order that is not a negotiable instrument under the UCC or bills-of-exchange statutes.
- IOU or informal debt note - Lacks an order on a banker, a sum-certain demand character, and the statutory form required for a cheque.
- 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
Sources
- 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.
What the second pass must settle
- 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?