Will your bank accept that giant lottery publicity check for real?
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It's a familiar sight on many lottery websites and news sources. Winners holding an oversized cardboard check after winning a matching gigantic prize. But could they march down to the bank and cash it in, or make a deposit?
According to Matt Soniak of mentalfloss.com, they might - providing the check meets the bank's requirements.
That means the check must contain such essentials as:
- the account owner's name
- the account number
- the name and state of the bank
- an instruction to pay (pay to the order of...)
- the payee's name
- the dollar amount
- the signature of the account owner
However, the bank may have its own ideas on whether they will accept it. This is usually stated in the fine print. They will tell you whether your lottery check can be accepted in different formats, or whether you need to use their own forms to cash it.
And if you wonder whether the big check is all you get, you usually also receive a regular check for the bank. The large one generally goes on the winner's den wall or above the fireplace.
Large checks are used for photo opportunities by the lottery organization, as many require the winners to be identified publicly - unlike the photo above.
It's also a way of showing the public that they are genuine winners.
