Uncrossed cheque

A crossed cheque is a cheque that has been marked specifying an instruction on the way it is to be redeemed. A common instruction is for the cheque to be deposited directly to an account with a bank and not to be immediately cashed by the holder over the bank counter. The format and wording varies between countries, but generally, two parallel lines may be placed either vertically across the cheque or on the top left hand corner of the cheque. By using crossed cheques, cheque writers can effectively protect the instrument from being stolen or cashed by unauthorized persons.

Cheques can be open (uncrossed) or crossed.

An open cheque is a cheque that is not crossed on the left corner and payable at the counter of the drawee bank on presentation of the cheque.

A crossed cheque is a cheque that is payable only through a collecting banker and not directly at the counter of the bank.

When two parallel lines, with or without any words, are drawn generally, on the left hand top corner of the cheque.

A crossed cheque generally is a cheque that only bears two parallel transverse lines, optionally with the words 'and company' or '& Co.' (or any abbreviation of them) on the face of the cheque, between the lines, usually at the top left corner or at any place in the approximate half (in width) of the cheque. In the UK, the crossing is across the cheque by the person who originally wrote the cheque (the drawer), or it can legitimately be added by the person the cheque is payable to (the payee), or even by the bank that the cheque is being paid into.

Generally-crossed cheques can only be paid into a bank account, so that the beneficiary can be traced.

A crossed cheque on its own does not affect the negotiability of the instrument.

Adding a crossing to a cheque increases its security in that it cannot be cashed at a bank counter but must be paid into an account in exactly the same name as that which appears on the ‘payee’ line of the cheque (i.e. the person who has received the cheque, who is legally the “payee” and “holder” of the cheque).

The words 'not negotiable' can be added to a crossing.

The effect of such a crossing is that it removes the most important characteristic of a negotiable instrument: the transferee of such a crossed cheque cannot get a better title than that of the transferor (cannot become a holder in due course) and cannot convey a better title to his own transferee, but the instrument remains transferable.

Where some customary instruction is written between the two parallel transverse lines (constituting crossing of cheque) that may result in imposing certain restrictions on the collecting or paying banker, it is called restrictive crossing. The example is "State Bank of India". In these cases, the respective restrictions mandate to pay the cheque through State Bank of India (acting as collecting banker) only.

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Wikipedia