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| Visions & Revisions |
It Takes a Thief
Marianne Cotter
12/01/2003
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Finally, remember that the banking system processes 50 billion checks a year. Banks are not legally obligated (nor would it be humanly possible) to physically examine each check or the signatures on each check. Some banks practice a procedure called sight review, in which they look at selected checks with high-dollar amounts and physically examine the signature. All items under these dollar amounts are paid automatically without being seen or touched by a human. Examples of thresholds: Major U.S. commercial banks may review checks that are $50,000 to $100,000; medium-sized commercial banks may look at checks from $10,000 to $50,000; and limits at small credit unions and savings and loans may be from $2,000 to $10,000. It is important to remember that under the revised UCC, banks are no longer required to examine signatures on checks.
 Most facsimile-signature deposit agreements with corporate customers contain a paragraph or clause that states, "We, the bank, are authorized by you to pay all checks with facsimile signatures that resemble or purport to resemble your facsimile signature regardless of the means or intent with which it was affixed." This means the bank is authorized to pay even if the check is color-copied or scanned. Banks are not technically liable for losses that arise from coun-terfeit checks with facsimile signatures.
While some banks will pay some of their customers’ losses in consideration of a long-term relationship, no bank is willing to reimburse a customer for a large-dollar forged check. If a bank does reimburse a customer for a loss, the amounts are going to be comparatively small.
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