Here's Why You Might Not Be Able To Deposit A Check On Cash App

For those who've grown up in the age of digital money transfers, the idea of paper checks may seem a bit anachronistic. While checks aren't the dominant means of moving large quantities of money around anymore, they still have their uses. For one thing, paper checks are easy to track (as long as you remember to balance your checkbook), and they're convenient for giving physical gifts of money on birthdays and holidays.

Popular money-handling services like Cash App offer the ability to deposit checks using the camera on your smartphone to accommodate those who still use checks. This process is known as Mobile Check Capture, and so long as you follow all the rules, it'll allow you to make your deposit from the comfort of your home, not to mention preserve a paper trail for the filing-minded. However, it's the rules mentioned above that you must pay special attention to; if your check doesn't fall within Cash App's regulations, you won't be able to make that deposit.

Mobile Check Capture is accomplished through the mobile version of Cash App, just like the rest of the app's functions and services. Processing a check with your smartphone is more or less the same as doing it at the bank, just without the human element.

Here's a quick step-by-step on how this process works.

1. Open Cash App.

2. Tap the Money icon (it looks like a bank symbol).

3. Tap Checks.

4. Enter the amount the check is worth and tap Confirm Amount.

5. Ensure all of the information on the front of the check (name, bank, signature, etc.) is correct, and tap Confirm front of check.

6. Follow the app's directions to indorse the check by signing the back in pen, then tap Confirm back of check on your phone.

7. Tap the Take Photo buttons to take complete pictures of the front and back of the check.

8. Tap Submit check.

Once you submit the check in the app, it'll take about one business day to process, after which the funds will be deposited into your associated bank account. Once the funds have been deposited, you can void the check with a permanent marker to keep it for your records or destroy it.

Mobile Check Capture has several terms and conditions that must be followed, or else the check will be rejected.

First, and perhaps most obviously, the check must be genuine. It must be payable by a financial institution like a bank or credit union, it has to be explicitly written to you (though it can be written jointly to you and someone else), and it must be payable in United States dollars. If you have reason to believe the check won't be honored, such as if the owner doesn't have enough money, don't try it. Additionally, the check cannot have been previously cashed or voided, nor can it have been altered in any way since it was written out, indorsement notwithstanding. Speaking of, the check may also be rejected if you didn't properly follow the app's directions for endorsement.

Secondly, the check must be properly signed or authenticated by its owner, as well as dated. The check must be dated for a day in the past, though it can't be any more than 90 days prior to the day you're attempting to deposit it. Also, post-dated checks, dated after the day you're attempting to deposit them, are not permitted.

Finally, every Cash App user is only permitted so many mobile deposits in a given period. Submitting too many checks consecutively or for too much money at once may be rejected as a security measure.