Revised: March, 2016
International and Unencoded Checks
- How do I identify a foreign check?
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U.S. Bank encoding has 9 digits with no separations in between. A “bar” followed by two dots signifies the beginning and end of the routing number.
SAMPLE: |:123456789|:
- What do I do if I receive a foreign check?
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Due to repeated problems with depositing international and unencoded checks through the State, we are requiring ALL foreign checks (which includes all Canadian Bank checks) be submitted separately to the Bursar's Office. These checks cannot be processed through your regular CASHNet Departmental Deposit as fees and exchange rates may come into play.
Any check that does not have a U.S. Bank routing number pre-encoded on the bottom of the check must be sent to us on a separate Bursar's Advice. Fill the Advice out normally except leave the amount blank as there may be collection costs affecting the final amount you receive. Mark across the body of the Advice in BOLD letters “FOREIGN”. This will assist us in correctly identifying the check as foreign. We will then modify the item’s processing to eliminate the issues which can occur when it is handled through the State.
Please Note: When requesting payment from an international customer, we recommend you ask for payment to be made in “U.S. Funds drawn through a U.S. Bank.”
Share this information with anyone who may handle these types of items. Our goal is to receive timely credit for the items, and the more people we have aware of the special processing requirements the more efficiently we can process them.