We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence. Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover.
How We Make Money.
The offers that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they may appear within the listing categories. But this compensation does not influence the information we publish, or the reviews that you see on this site. We do not include the universe of companies or financial offers that may be available to you.
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict , this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here’s an explanation for .
Editorial Integrity
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions.
Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers.
Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information.
How We Make Money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey.
Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers.
We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money.
Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service.
Dear Dr. Don,
My online employer promised to issue me a certified check. However, I’ve been hearing stories about counterfeit certified checks. What exactly is a certified check? How does one know if a check is a counterfeit? If a check is a counterfeit and I deposit it, what problems does it pose for my credit? — Rita Reconnaissance
Dear Rita,
I wrote one of those stories in an earlier column, “You can’t always trust certified checks.” I’d hate to think your online employer would issue you a counterfeit certified check to pay you for your work. If this is a continuing relationship, you could suggest direct deposit as an alternative method of payment.
You won’t know if the check is counterfeit until it has been deposited. If the check clears, it’s good. If it doesn’t, the money will be taken from your account. It becomes a problem because a certified check can have next-day funds availability in your account, but your bank may not know by the next day if the check is counterfeit. So funds availability won’t match up with the check clearing through the banking system.
If you spend the funds from a counterfeit check, you’ll have to repay the bank. This problem is described in greater depth in the Federal Trade Commission’s Facts for Consumers publication “Giving the Bounce to Counterfeit Check Scams.” It doesn’t do anything to your credit because your banking transaction history isn’t part of your credit report.
A certified check means just that — an officer of the bank has certified on the check that good funds were available in the amount of the check at the time the check was originated and that the signature on the check is genuine. The bank then sets aside the funds and will use only these funds to pay the certified check.
If the check isn’t forged, you won’t have an issue depositing good funds into your account.
Read more Dr. Don columns for additional personal finance advice.
Share