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My credit union doesn't accept any check deposits without signature endorsement from the recipient. I have a joint savings account with my spouse. They do not accept checks made out to both me and my spouse if only one of us has signed the check. They do not accept checks made out to me if they are unsigned even when my spouse delivers them in person.

Several other money.SE answers make clear that signature endorsement is not necessary, and specifically point to Uniform Commercial Code §3-206. What arguments can I use to persuade my credit union to accept deposits to my account without my signature, at least from my spouse?

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    What reason did the credit union provide?
    – Hart CO
    Apr 16, 2019 at 21:04
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    do you an 'or' account or an 'and' account?
    – Aganju
    Apr 16, 2019 at 21:15
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    Possible duplicate of [ I'm using a vendor that is terrible. How do I make them be awesome? ]
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Apr 17, 2019 at 0:06
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    It may not be their decision. Dirty secret about credit unions are that most of them are too small to economically perform the functions of a large bank. The majority of credit unions are essentially resellers of services from a wholesale bank called a corporate credit union. Your checks are processed by a corporate credit union, who also invests your funds and handles debit cards, etc.
    – user71659
    Apr 17, 2019 at 6:21
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    Having a joint account does not imply that you allow the other person to spend all your checks. Being married probably does but that's a different thing :) This could explain why the policy exists.
    – Olivier
    Dec 1, 2022 at 17:01

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Few banks will accept unendorsed checks. I can't think of any reason I would want them to that doesn't involve attempted fraud.

If you really need this to happen, consider asking for bank-to-bank funds transfer rather than a physical check; that's how direct deposit does it, and these days it's easy to do from the source account 's webpage or app.

If it's a shared account, the rules for who needs to sign are set when the account is opened. If it's "dual custody" then all the account holders must authorize any withdrawal; I'm not sure whether requiring all the signatures for deposit is at all common, but the answer may be to open a new account specifying that one signature will suffice... and that may require you open it at another bank.

No bank or credit union does everything. Shop for the services you need, and remember that you can have accounts in multiple places if that's what is needed.

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    The first paragraph is US specific in the UK I have never had to endorse a cheque to pay it in. I think you might have had to to get cash
    – mmmmmm
    Dec 1, 2022 at 23:10
  • @mmmmmm that’s just begging for fraud.
    – RonJohn
    Dec 2, 2022 at 1:27
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    The argument for that approach is that it's hard to commit fraud by depositing money. Create a false evidence trail that could be embarrassing, perhaps. But there's a clear record of whose account the check was drawn on and whom it was paid to, so at least in theory it can be tracked down and recovered if it goes astray. The signature is at least some evidence that the account owner knows the deposit is being made and for how much.
    – keshlam
    Dec 2, 2022 at 1:39

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