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I am traveling in Europe and I have my US clients send my paychecks to my parents' address in the states. Is there anyway I can get these paychecks deposited?
The best idea I have is for my Mom to take a picture of the front and back and email them to me and then I try and endorse it and use my bank's smartphone app.
My clients have not endorsed them as "for deposit only". Can my Mom endorse it as "for deposit only" and then go to the teller?
Yes, your mother can endorse it "for deposit only". The person writing the check does not write such a restricted endorsement; the recipient does. Your client should never put such an endorsement on a check they write.
That said, if you're mother is not an authorized signer on the account, the bank may not accept her signature on an endorsement. If it's a business account, businesses often get rubber stamps made that say "for deposit only" and have the name and/or account number of the business.
I take it you can't have the funds direct deposited? That would surely be easier.
Banks often accept cheque deposits by mail. So few people do it that it's not well known, but usually allowed.
Once you've checked your bank will do it, get your parents to give you a list of waiting cheques. Then write a letter addressed to your bank branch saying "Please deposit the following cheques to my account number 12345678" and list the payers and amounts of the cheques. Sign the letter and mail it to your parents. Then your parents put it in an envelope with the cheques and mail it to your branch.
Note that this is for deposits of reasonable amounts. If you try to deposit more than $10,000, they do look at it harder.
As long as the depositor is not asking for cash back, they generally don't look at who is doing the deposit as long as the name on the check matches the name on the account.
Officially, the depositor needs to be on the account but I've only had one branch reject a deposit to my account by my girlfriend (who has a different last name) of my paycheck into my account.
As has been mentioned, "for deposit only" was in the endorsement section and none of the cashiers know what my signature looks like anyway. They just check to see that it is there. There are too many customers to know everyone's signature.
Funny story:
When I was a kid, my Dad almost got arrested for depositing his own paycheck because my Mom always deposited his checks and they didn't recognize his signature. I can't see that happening any more.
Anyone can deposit a check made out to the account holder's name at the account holder's bank. No ID is required. I used to do this regularly for friends and even my landlord who often traveled abroad; I would write them a check and go to their bank and deposit it for them. Sometimes the teller asked me to write "For Deposit Only" on the back, but most of the time, they just stamped it and took it. By the way, this works for employees depositing business checks too- it doesn't matter who makes the deposit as long as the checks have the business name on it.
As a side note, when I filled out the deposit slip I always asked the teller to confirm the account number matched the name on the account, just in case my friend or landlord texted it incorrectly or I was at the wrong bank! I also always asked for a receipt, and was happy to see that the receipt never showed the account balance on it because I had never verified that it was my account. (Banks are not supposed to reveal the balance to anyone other than the account owner or authorized users.)
