Use Billpay To Get A Voided Check

October 1, 2009 by Jim

do you use checks? Most of the time, it’s to set up a direct deposit right? Well, my friend Scott (he runs the Ghent Bar Tour in Norfolk, which is a charity bar tour that raises tens of thousands of dollars a year) asked me if it was possible to just send yourself a check by Billpay and use that as your “check” for direct deposit purposes.

I opened a checking account at some no-name bank in TN to get $100 after setting up direct deposit. Last time I did this, I ordered some checks through a cheap online site for about $5 so I could get ONE check to send to my HR dept and set up the DD.

But I had a thought this time around – could I send myself a small check (say, $1) through the bank’s free BillPay system and then void that check and use it to set up the DD? It should have all of my bank info on it like any other check and a voided check is a voided check, right, no matter how much it was for or who it was to? It would save me only $4 or so but $4 is $4 and it’s actually less work.


I don’t see any reason why this wouldn’t work (I confirmed with a Bank of America representative that the check does contain the ABA routing number and your account number, the details HR needs). Just send yourself a check for a penny, write void on it when you receive it, and then use that as your voided check. I know you can send a check for a penny because my friend did that to me once when billpay first got started. Why pay for something you don’t need?

I would do this if you only need a handful of checks. If you need more, always buy checks online. If you buy them from the bank, they always overcharge you and send you way too many checks anyway.

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