My daughter lost a $50 check written out to her school. Should I place stop payment on it? Also should I be concerned about someone getting my account and routing numbers? What damage can be done if this information gets into the wrong hands? Should I get a new account number?
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Weigh the risk that someone will cash the check against the cost of the stop payment service from the bank. It would be rare for a bank to charge $50 or more for a stop payment, so it's probably a good idea to stop payment on this check.
As far as protecting your routing and account number, put that concern into perspective before deciding. You give that information out every time you write a check. The difference here, of course, is that you usually know who is getting that information. This check could fall into the hands of a dishonest individual, so you have a slightly higher risk of those numbers being compromised. Closing out your account and opening a new one is one way to ensure that a compromise of your account number won't cause problems. However, if you have automatic payments set up to go from or to that account, you'll need to change each of them to hit the new account. If you have access to your bank's online banking product, keep a daily watch on your account activity for a reasonable time, to assure yourself that no one has used your account fraudulently.
Published on BankingQuestions.com 1/03/08
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Weigh the risk that someone will cash the check against the cost of the stop payment service from the bank. It would be rare for a bank to charge $50 or more for a stop payment, so it's probably a good idea to stop payment on this check.