A
check whose
payment is
guaranteed by a
bank. In exchange for a
fee, a bank issues a certified check to a person, who is very often both the
payer and the
payee. That is, a person gives the bank the amount for which the certified check is written, either in
cash or by
deducting the appropriate amount from the payer's account; the bank then makes the check payable to that person. The person may
cash the check at any bank, or deposit it at a different bank without being subject to a
check hold. A certified check is also known as a registered check or banker's draft. See also: Traveler's cheque,
Commercial draft.