A cheque or check (American English; see spelling differences) is a document that orders

a bank to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose
name the cheque has been issued. The person writing the cheque, the drawer, has
atransaction banking account (often called a current, cheque, chequing or checking
account) where their money is held. The drawer writes the various details including
the monetary amount, date, and a payee on the cheque, and signs it, ordering their bank,
known as thedrawee, to pay that person or company the amount of money stated.

Cheques are a type of bill of exchange and were developed as a way to make payments
without the need to carry large amounts of money. Paper money evolved from promissory
notes, another form of negotiable instrument similar to cheques in that they were originally a
written order to pay the given amount to whoever had it in their possession (the "bearer").

A cheque is a negotiable instrument instructing a financial institution to pay a specific

amount of a specific currency from a specifiedtransactional account held in the drawer's
name with that institution. Both the drawer and payee may be natural persons or legal
entities. Cheques are order instruments, and are not in general payable simply to the bearer
as bearer instruments are, but must be paid to the payee. In some countries, such as the
US, the payee may endorse the cheque, allowing them to specify a third party to whom it
should be paid.

Although forms of cheques have been in use since ancient times and at least since the 9th
century, it was during the 20th century that cheques became a highly popular non-
cash method for making payments and the usage of cheques peaked. By the second half of
the 20th century, as cheque processing became automated, billions of cheques were issued
annually; these volumes peaked in or around the early 1990s.[1] Since then cheque usage
has fallen, being partly replaced by electronic payment systems. In an increasing number of
countries cheques have either become a marginal payment system or have been
completely phased out.

Characteristics Of Cheque

1. An Unconditional Order
The drawer or the depositor should not lay down any condition in the cheque.

2. Drawn Upon A Specified Banker

The drawer issues cheque directing to a particular bank having deposit in it to
pay the amount of cheque.

3. Signed By The Maker

The cheque should be signed by the account holder.

4. Amount In Words And Figures

The amount of cheque should be mentioned in words and figures.

5. Payable On Demand
The amount of cheque must be paid by the bank as soon as it is presented at
its counter.

ATM
An automated teller machine, also known in the United States of America as
an automatic teller machine[1][2][3] (ATM, American,British, Australian, Malaysian, South
African, Singaporean, Indian, Maldivian, Hiberno, Philippines and Sri Lankan
English), automated banking machine (ABM, Canadian English[4]), cash point (British
English[5]), cashline, minibank, cash machine, tyme machine,cash
dispenser, bankomat or bancomat, is an electronic telecommunications device that
enables the customers of a financial institutionto perform financial transactions, particularly
cash withdrawal, without the need for a human cashier, clerk or bank teller.

According to the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA),[6] there are now close to 3.5 million
ATMs installed worldwide.[7]

On most modern ATMs, the customer is identified by inserting a plastic ATM card with
a magnetic stripe or a plastic smart card with a chipthat contains a unique card number and
some security information such as an expiration date or CVVC (CVV). Authentication is
provided by the customer entering a personal identification number (PIN) which must match
the PIN stored in the chip on the card (if the card is so equipped) or in the issuing financial
institution's database.
Using an ATM, customers can access their bank deposit or credit accounts in order to make
a variety of transactions such as cashwithdrawals, check balances, or credit mobile phones.
If the currency being withdrawn from the ATM is different from that in which the bank
account is denominated the money will be converted at an official exchange rate. Thus,
ATMs often provide the best possible exchange rates for foreign travellers, and are widely
used for this purpose.[8]

USES
Originally developed as cash dispensers, ATMs have evolved to include many other bank-
related functions:

 Paying routine bills, fees, and taxes (utilities, phone bills, social security, legal fees,
income taxes, etc.)
 Printing bank statements
 Updating passbooks
 Cash advances
 Cheque Processing Module
 Paying (in full or partially) the credit balance on a card linked to a specific current
account.
 Transferring money between linked accounts (such as transferring between accounts)
 Deposit currency recognition, acceptance, and recycling[85][86]

In some countries, especially those which benefit from a fully integrated cross-bank network
(e.g.: Multibanco in Portugal), ATMs include many functions that are not directly related to
the management of one's own bank account, such as:

 Loading monetary value into stored value cards

 Adding pre-paid cell phone / mobile phone credit.
 Purchasing
 Concert tickets
 Gold[87]
 Lottery tickets
 Movie tickets
 Postage stamps.
  Train tickets
 Shopping mall gift certificates.
 Donating to charities[88]

Increasingly, banks are seeking to use the ATM as a sales device to deliver pre approved
loans and targeted advertising using products such as ITM (the Intelligent Teller Machine)
from Aptra Relate from NCR.[89] ATMs can also act as an advertising channel for other
companies.[90]*

A South Korean ATM with mobile bank port and bar code reader

However, several different ATM technologies have not yet reached worldwide acceptance,
such as:

 Videoconferencing with human tellers, known as video tellers[91]

 Biometrics, where authorization of transactions is based on the scanning of a
customer's fingerprint, iris, face, etc.[92][93][94]
 Cheque/cash Acceptance, where the machine accepts and recognises cheques and/or
currency without using envelopes[95] Expected to grow in importance in the US
through Check 21 legislation.
 Bar code scanning[96]
 On-demand printing of "items of value" (such as movie tickets, traveler's cheques, etc.)
 Dispensing additional media (such as phone cards)
 Co-ordination of ATMs with mobile phones[97]
 Integration with non-banking equipment[98][99]
 Games and promotional features[100]
 CRM through the ATM

In Canada, ATMs are called guichets automatiques in French and sometimes "bank
machines" in English. The Interac-shared cash network does not allow for the selling of
goods from ATMs, due to specific security requirements for PIN entry when buying
goods.[101]CIBC machines in Canada, are able to top-up the minutes on certain pay as you
go phones.

Related devices [edit]

A talking ATM is a type of ATM that provides audible instructions so that people who cannot
read a screen can independently use the machine, therefore effectively eliminating the need
for assistance from an external, potentially malevolent source. All audible information is
delivered privately through a standard headphone jack on the face of the machine.
Alternatively, some banks such as the Nordea and Swedbank use a built-in external
speaker which may be invoked by pressing the talk button on the keypad.[122]Information is
delivered to the customer either through pre-recorded sound files or via text-to-
speech speech synthesis.

A postal interactive kiosk may share many components of an ATM (including a vault), but it
only dispenses items related to postage.[123][124]

A scrip cash dispenser may have many components in common with an ATM, but it lacks
the ability to dispense physical cash and consequently requires no vault. Instead, the
customer requests a withdrawal transaction from the machine, which prints a receipt. The
customer then takes this receipt to a nearby sales clerk, who then exchanges it for cash
from the till.[125]

A teller assist unit (TAU) is distinct in that it is designed to be operated solely by trained
personnel and not by the general public, does integrate directly into interbank networks, and
usually is controlled by a computer that is not directly integrated into the overall construction
of the unit.

A Web ATM is an online interface for ATM card banking that uses a smart card reader. All
the usual ATM functions are available, except for withdrawing cash. Most banks
inTaiwan provide these online services.[126][127]