How to Scan and Email Voided Checks Safely

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Electronic payments from your checking account can be convenient, and this payment method also helps you avoid extra convenience charges. However, emailing the image of a voided check to a vendor is a risky way to provide your bank account number and routing number—both of which are necessary for Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments

Fortunately, there are several ways to keep your personal account information secure. Learn techniques for properly sending a voided check electronically, as well as other payment methods that may work better.

Emailing Check Images

ACH payments transfer funds electronically from your bank account to a vendor without the need to write a separate check for each payment. To set up payments, however, vendors need your bank account and routing numbers. To gather that information, vendors often request a voided check.

Note

You can use your checking account to pay for utilities, insurance, and other recurring expenses.

Checks contain personal financial information, including your routing and account numbers, along with your name and address. Identity thieves can use this information to pull funds from your checking account. Even if you void the check, the numbers are still visible, and that image may exist—meaning it can be copied or stolen—for many years.

In most cases, this isn’t a problem. Vendors are unlikely to steal from your account, and the image might be safely stored or deleted after it gets used, but if fraud occurs, the risk is significant. When thieves access your account, you could potentially lose money, and the domino effect can make your life difficult. For example, you might end up bouncing other checks or missing payments because there’s not enough money for necessary payments. You also spend time and energy cleaning up the mess.

Note

You may be protected from fraud in your account, but you need to act quickly for maximum protection. Contact your bank immediately if you suspect fraud. Once you notify your bank or credit union, the organization generally has 10 business days to scope out the issue.

Pay from Your Checking Account (Electronically)

Instead of just emailing a check in plain sight, there are more secure methods of paying. If vendors do not have a secure website where you can enter your account and routing numbers securely, protect yourself with the techniques below.

Encrypted PDF

One way to solve the problem is to send the check image as an encrypted PDF, which requires the recipient to enter a password before viewing the document. Be sure to provide the password securely, and don’t email it unless you use different email addresses. It’s best to call the recipient and deliver the password verbally, but you also could send the password as a text message. 

Note

With Adobe, for example, you can add a password to a PDF by using the Protect menu. Then, select Encrypt, and Encrypt with Password. If you don’t have Adobe software, you can encrypt passwords online, as well.

Password-Protected File

It’s possible to add a password to other types of files, too. If you can’t create an encrypted PDF, you can set an added password protection on the file. This will vary depending on the type of computer you have. Microsoft Office users, for example, can select File, Info, and Protect Document.

Consider Faxing

If you’re having a hard time securing a file for email, ask about faxing the check image instead. Unlike emails that may get backed up and targeted by hackers, faxed documents might not sit around forever. Stealing information from a fax transmission is more cumbersome than forwarding an email.

To send a fax, you can visit a local printing or shipping office, or you can use an online service to send a fax from your computer or mobile device. Note that when you upload a document to an online service, that service could get hacked, so an old-fashioned fax might be the most secure solution.

Snail Mail

If there’s no rush, it may make sense to mail the check (or direct deposit form with your check image). Of course, the check could get lost and the information could be used by thieves, but most letters make it to their destination safely.

Electronic Payments From Checking

If you’re hesitant to send your account information to somebody, find out if you can send payments from your checking account. Instead of having the payment pulled from your account, you can push out payments yourself. Your bank’s online bill payment feature may be able to send payments electronically or by paper check. You can often automate payments and schedule them to go out on a specific day of each month.

Note

When you set up online bill pay with your bank, you keep your information private, and you’re in control of the timing and amount of each payment.

Why Emailing a Check Is Risky

Technically, you expose your account information every time you write a check, so you might wonder if it’s any worse to email an image of your check. When there’s a paper check involved, the only way to use the information is to get a copy of the check. In most situations, the check is destroyed soon after it is uploaded to a secure system. It might be photographed or turned into an electronic image, but those copies generally are safe.

Email is not a secure system. When you send a message, it moves through numerous computers, some of which might have malicious software installed. What’s more, you don’t know how careful your recipient is with his email account. Even if the message gets deleted promptly, an archived copy of that message might exist for a very long time.

Regardless of how you pay your bills, it’s wise to monitor your bank accounts to limit your risk. The easiest way to do that is to set up email or text message alerts that notify you whenever money leaves your account.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Where can I find my routing or account number on a check?

On personal checks, your routing and account numbers are located at the bottom. You'll see three sets of numbers in a special font. The first set of numbers is the nine-digit routing number, or "ABA number," which identifies your bank. The second set of numbers is your account number. The third set of numbers is the check number.

What is a voided check?

A voided check is one where you have written the word "VOID" across the front of it one or more times to indicate that it shouldn't be accepted for payment. Voiding a check is a way to provide your account information so you can make electronic payments or receive direct deposits.

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Sources
The Balance uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "How Do I Get My Money Back After I Discovered an Unauthorized Transaction or Money Missing From My Bank Account?"

  2. Microsoft. "Protect a Document With a Password."

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