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Now that I have had a chance to really look around the place at Big Generic Bank where I now work and where your money goes when you pay your bills by check to PO Boxes to various corporations and businesses, I feel the need to say...OMG switch to online bill pay as soon as you can, even if it puts me out of a job. *cough*.
Assuming you still prefer mailing checks I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that when you see that "PO Box" your check is going to a highly secure facility with state of the art machines for processing. The bad news is it is being processed by people who make absolute shit pay and whose very jobs are dependent on how many items they process and it must run a fairly extensive gauntlet where it passes physically through many hands. Most of these people are very, very good at their jobs. Please do not get me wrong. It's just that there are a lot of stops along the way where things could go wrong.
The other good news, though is that there are several things you can do (and NOT do) to ensure the most accurate processing of your payment and keep it in as few hands as possible. I share with you:
1. Always, always, always use the envelope provided for you, and make sure the PO Box is showing clearly in the little window. If you do not have the envelope, make sure you have written the PO Box in clear block printing that is easy to read. This PO Box number is the PRIMARY source of identification for where your check should go. And there are a LOT of them in use at any given time at the bank processing your checks. Often with a difference of only one number. Often for different departments of the same company. If your lockbox number is wrong or unclear on the envelope you have automatically added another step (and more hands) to your payment.
2. On the check itself. In addition to your account number, write that PO Box number on there as well. See above re: PRIMARY ID. When your check gets separated from its envelope it is technically supposed to be going where it needs to go. But we're talking about piles and piles of paper running to and fro on a very large floor. If your check gets misplaced and it has that number on it, getting it back to it's home will take half the time and half the people.
3. Also on the check itself. In the "Pay to the Order Of" write only the company name EXACTLY as it is written on your bill, or the company info. And when I say exactly, I mean right down to the punctuation and abbreviations. No misspellings. Many companies are set to "all payees" meaning variations won't matter. But a good number are NOT. They have a very specific list, and if you write XZY Corporation and they only have XYZ Company on the list? You're going on the question or rejection pile. Which means your payment gets to take an even longer tour around the floor and you don't want that.
4. Print, print, block print. The only cursive on your check should be your signature. Remember, the people looking at it have just looked at hundreds of checks and are about to look at hundreds more. They don't have time to decipher your chicken scratchings and if you meant to write "three" there. Distinguish your similar looking numbers like 7 and 1. The "legal" amount (the one you write out on the line) is the one that counts. If there is a conflict between what you wrote there and the numbers in the little box on the side? What you wrote out WINS. Making sure it never has to wander around the floor where people are staring at it in puzzlement going "what the hell word is that?" is your first line of defense.
5. Include your payment coupon from your bill in the envelope whenever you can. This is the first resource used to resolve questions, and knowing what amount is listed there and to whom can cut down the "question" period by oodles. If all they have is your check and nothing to compare it against the process gets more complicated and more subject to human error. Remember that a given employee is processing checks not just for Generic Phone Company...they are also processing for Generic Cable Company and Generic Department Store and Generic Hospital Billing. The more identifying information in that envelope the better for you.
6. And I can't believe I'm saying this but I *saw* it with my own two eyes so I figured I'd throw it out there. DO NOT SEND CASH. Ever. Seriously. It will be processed if it's over 10 dollars and the account has no specific restrictions, but god that's just ASKING for trouble. Your money is travelling around a very big floor, filled with a lot of people who do not make SHIT and there is no way to verify how much you put in that envelope, nor is there any way to connect that money back up to the account it's associated with if it gets accidentally separated from it's paperwork. Just don't.
Hope this was useful. If not, please feel free to hit me upside the head for clogging your friendslist.
Assuming you still prefer mailing checks I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is that when you see that "PO Box" your check is going to a highly secure facility with state of the art machines for processing. The bad news is it is being processed by people who make absolute shit pay and whose very jobs are dependent on how many items they process and it must run a fairly extensive gauntlet where it passes physically through many hands. Most of these people are very, very good at their jobs. Please do not get me wrong. It's just that there are a lot of stops along the way where things could go wrong.
The other good news, though is that there are several things you can do (and NOT do) to ensure the most accurate processing of your payment and keep it in as few hands as possible. I share with you:
1. Always, always, always use the envelope provided for you, and make sure the PO Box is showing clearly in the little window. If you do not have the envelope, make sure you have written the PO Box in clear block printing that is easy to read. This PO Box number is the PRIMARY source of identification for where your check should go. And there are a LOT of them in use at any given time at the bank processing your checks. Often with a difference of only one number. Often for different departments of the same company. If your lockbox number is wrong or unclear on the envelope you have automatically added another step (and more hands) to your payment.
2. On the check itself. In addition to your account number, write that PO Box number on there as well. See above re: PRIMARY ID. When your check gets separated from its envelope it is technically supposed to be going where it needs to go. But we're talking about piles and piles of paper running to and fro on a very large floor. If your check gets misplaced and it has that number on it, getting it back to it's home will take half the time and half the people.
3. Also on the check itself. In the "Pay to the Order Of" write only the company name EXACTLY as it is written on your bill, or the company info. And when I say exactly, I mean right down to the punctuation and abbreviations. No misspellings. Many companies are set to "all payees" meaning variations won't matter. But a good number are NOT. They have a very specific list, and if you write XZY Corporation and they only have XYZ Company on the list? You're going on the question or rejection pile. Which means your payment gets to take an even longer tour around the floor and you don't want that.
4. Print, print, block print. The only cursive on your check should be your signature. Remember, the people looking at it have just looked at hundreds of checks and are about to look at hundreds more. They don't have time to decipher your chicken scratchings and if you meant to write "three" there. Distinguish your similar looking numbers like 7 and 1. The "legal" amount (the one you write out on the line) is the one that counts. If there is a conflict between what you wrote there and the numbers in the little box on the side? What you wrote out WINS. Making sure it never has to wander around the floor where people are staring at it in puzzlement going "what the hell word is that?" is your first line of defense.
5. Include your payment coupon from your bill in the envelope whenever you can. This is the first resource used to resolve questions, and knowing what amount is listed there and to whom can cut down the "question" period by oodles. If all they have is your check and nothing to compare it against the process gets more complicated and more subject to human error. Remember that a given employee is processing checks not just for Generic Phone Company...they are also processing for Generic Cable Company and Generic Department Store and Generic Hospital Billing. The more identifying information in that envelope the better for you.
6. And I can't believe I'm saying this but I *saw* it with my own two eyes so I figured I'd throw it out there. DO NOT SEND CASH. Ever. Seriously. It will be processed if it's over 10 dollars and the account has no specific restrictions, but god that's just ASKING for trouble. Your money is travelling around a very big floor, filled with a lot of people who do not make SHIT and there is no way to verify how much you put in that envelope, nor is there any way to connect that money back up to the account it's associated with if it gets accidentally separated from it's paperwork. Just don't.
Hope this was useful. If not, please feel free to hit me upside the head for clogging your friendslist.