Who’s taking a cut of your check?
Compare the banks.
What do banks publish about cashing checks for people without accounts? Compare fees, check types, ID language and refusal policies. Then follow the sources and help us test what happens in practice.
Read the labels carefully. “Not stated” means we did not find the detail in the cited public document. It does not mean the bank charges nothing, accepts every check, or has no internal policy. Truist’s cited schedule takes effect September 28, after this comparison date.
Bank-by-bank comparison
This is a comparison of published documents, not a promise that any branch will cash a particular check. “On-us” means a check drawn on that bank. Payroll and two-party checks are shown separately only where the cited source addresses them.
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n.s. = not stated in the cited public document. Fee tiers and waivers can depend on check amount, type, location or effective date. Follow the source before relying on a figure.
Why do banks say they charge?
Banks’ explanations
In 2017, a Bank of America spokeswoman described reducing wait times for account holders. A Wells Fargo spokesman said its then-$7.50 fee covered access to branches and bankers for non-customers. These statements describe the banks’ positions at that time; they do not calculate today’s fee.
What banks told the OCC
Unnamed banks cited personnel and processing costs, fraud losses, quicker teller service for account holders and incentives to use other payment methods. The OCC addressed their authority to charge fees and the process for considering them. It did not establish the cost of every check or every bank’s current price.
Different check, different evidence
OCC Letter #1094 discusses official checks and the bank’s claimed fraud and staffing risks. Its findings should not be applied without qualification to an ordinary payroll or handwritten business check. The cited letters refer to confidential submissions; the public text does not provide a current, bank-by-bank accounting of costs.
State rules and legal context
New York
N.Y. Banking Law § 9-z addresses on-us cashier’s, payroll and certified checks of $500 or less when sufficient funds are available. It permits specified identification requirements and addresses refusal without suspected fraud. This is a New York rule; it does not govern a Florida branch transaction.
Read the statute →Massachusetts
Chapter 167, § 46 provides a conditional check-cashing right for registered resident pensioners and retirees presenting specified government benefit checks up to $2,500 at covered banks. It is not a general payroll-check rule and excludes federally chartered institutions under its definition.
Read the statute →New Jersey and Illinois
Truist’s future-dated schedule lists a New Jersey waiver; that is a bank policy, not a general New Jersey mandate. Illinois’s Check Cashing Act concerns licensed check cashers and should not be used as a general bank-fee cap.
NJ consumer alert → · Illinois law →Federal context and Texas litigation
The OCC says no federal law generally requires banks it regulates to cash checks for non-customers. In litigation over a Texas par-value statute, a federal appeals court held that the state restriction conflicted with national banks’ federal fee authority. Those sources do not resolve every state wage-payment question.
OCC guidance → · Court opinion →What we are still asking
- How did each bank choose its fee, and what evidence supports that amount?
- Which checks will a branch cash, and when does it refuse?
- What ID is required, and what information is retained?
- When a check represents wages, how do federal banking rules and the applicable state’s wage law interact?
- Do the bank’s published rules match what people encounter at the counter?
Help follow the evidence.
Were you charged a fee or refused cash for a check drawn on the bank where you presented it? We welcome accounts from payees, account holders, employers and bank employees at any bank. Include the bank, state, date, check type, amount, fee and what happened. Remove account, routing, ID and other private numbers from any documents before sharing. Joining the mailing list is optional.
Method and limits
Compiled September 23, 2026 from linked bank schedules, agreements and check-cashing pages. The historical rationale is attributed to the cited OCC letters and 2017 reporting. “Not stated” applies to the cited public source, not every possible bank document. This sample is not exhaustive. Fees and rules may change or vary by location; verify with the bank. The Truist schedule cited here is effective September 28, 2026 and is shown as forthcoming. This page provides information, not legal or financial advice.