Deposits into ATM
by Mary Beth Guard and John Burnett Guru BIOS
Question: We had a customer deposit an IRS refund check made payable to husband and wife into our ATM
with only his signature. When the deposit was processed and stamped with our ATM deposit endorsement guarantee stamp, the missing endorsement was not caught. In this instance I realize we are liable, but
what if it was deposited into another bank’s ATM? Who is liable then? What are the rules concerning endorsements
and ATM deposits (many of ours come in with no endorsements at all)?
Answer: In general, if a customer delivers a check to his/her bank, the bank may deposit the check to the
customer’s account without an actual endorsement. UCC section 4-205 covers this situation. If the check
is payable jointly, the deposit must be to a joint account of the joint payees. In the case described,
even without the wife’s endorsement, the bank could properly deposit the check to the
joint account of the two payees. However, if the deposit was made to an account of the husband individually,
the bank has potential liability. Specific rules applying to endorsement of Treasury checks can be found in 31 CFR Part 240.
In the case of deposits made at another bank’s ATM, liability for endorsement problems between the banks will/should be a matter of the
network contract.
The original version appeared in the September/October 2004 edition of the Oklahoma Bankers Association Compliance Informer.
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