How to Order Business Checks Online (and Avoid Getting Scammed)

Over the years, you’ve probably gotten into the habit of going to the bank to order your checks whenever you need them. These days, however, there is a quicker, easier, and cheaper option: you can order your business checks online!

There are hundreds of sites where you can order your business checks, and while this seems like a good thing for you on the surface, you also need to remember that there are a lot of shady and unscrupulous people online as well! Always keep in mind that you will be giving out private and sensitive financial information, so you need to make sure that you are going into business with a reputable and trustworthy printing business.

Is it Safe for Me to Order Business Checks Online?

The simple answer here is yes! Many banks even outsource their check printing needs. You can safely order business checks online as long as you take some precautions. In fact, if you are ordering from a trusted online site, you will be saving money as the unit price of buying online is equal to buying your checks at a wholesale price instead of retail, even if you are only purchasing a few checkbooks.

Here are some precautions that you should keep in keep when looking for a reputable printing service online:

1.When you are looking for an online service to handle your printing needs, make sure that the printing company creates checks that follow the standards set by the American National Standards Institute. The standards are the same ones that all banks follow to create legitimate checks.

Another way to make sure that your personal information is safe is to check the URL of the payment page.  The web browser should show “https://”, and not just “http://”, as the former shows a secure site, while the latter is easily hacked by external threats.

Even the website’s content and layout can be a huge tipoff whether the company is legitimate or not. If a website uses a lot of stock photos, has generic-sounding content, or it’s difficult to get in direct contact with the company, it could be a red flag that the company is not a reputable one.

2.Make sure that the printing company is part of the Check Payment Systems Association. All the security standards of the check printing industry are set by this organization. Thus, you can be sure that any company that is a member of this organization or at least has its certification prints legitimate checks and operates with trustworthiness and transparency. All of their printed checks should have a small padlock icon printed below the amount line.

3.Once you have found a company that you want to possibly work with, you can go to their FAQ section to see what kind of security measures they use to protect their customers and ensure that the checks are legitimate, safe, and secure. Some of the most common security measures used by online companies are:

a.Security screens, films, or strips on the back of the checks. This guarantees that the checks are original and legitimate, and helps prevents fraudulent copies.

b.Special paper with chemical features that will allow banks to verify the legitimacy of the checks. Many banks have a special light that they shine on the surface of the checks to verify if a check is real or a copy.

c.Micro security printing, which is a type of printing process that breaks up and becomes unreadable if the check is photocopied.

Of course, different banks will have different ways to authenticate checks. In order to be sure that your bank will honor checks that are created by a third-party vendor, you should call your bank.

4.Perform your due diligence when it comes to choosing an online printing service. One of the reasons why there are many reports of people getting scammed online by shady companies is that scammers have gotten very good at creating legitimate-looking sites! You should take the time to thoroughly research the background and track record of any printing service that you want to hire. It’s not as simple as checking reviews; those can be fakes too! There are many factors that you can check, such as their registered address and contact number, their policy page, or even checking whether the business is properly registered with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Yes, it might be a few more steps that would be tedious and annoying, but it’s a lot easier to take these steps than having to worry about whether your financial information has been stolen by a scammer!