Cashier's check

A check drawn directly on a customer's account, making the bank the primary obligor, and assuring firm that the amount will be paid.

Certified Check

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.

cashier's check

A check drawn by a bank on itself. A cashier's check is made out to a designated institution or person and must be paid for before it is issued. See also certified check.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.

cashier's check

An official check issued by a bank with itself as the drawer. Contrast with a certified check, which is one drawn on the bank customer's account, with the customer as drawer, but certified as good by the bank. Closing companies usually require a cashier's check for the purchaser's portion of all closing costs and purchase money. A cashier's check can be the subject of a stop-payment order. Because of widespread forgery of cashier's checks, many closing companies will not complete closing until funds are actually collected and in the closing company's escrow account.