How to accept a check payment by fax

What do customers fax when they pay by check?

• A copy of a check made out to you, or a voided check, which gives you their bank details.
• A signed form authorizing you to draft their account for a set amount, or up to a cap.
• An order form or invoice with a note to charge their account.

A fax of a check isn't something you can deposit. It's a picture of one. The payment is a check draft you print from those details, backed by your customer's authorization.

How do you take a payment by fax?

1. 1

   Get the fax as a PDF

   Online fax services email each fax as a PDF. On a paper fax machine, take a clear photo of the page instead.

2. 2

   Drop it into DraftPay

   Quick Draft reads the payer, routing and account numbers and the amount. Check every field against the fax before you continue.

3. 3

   Get the authorization

   Send the approval link so your customer approves the exact amount from their email, or record their faxed, signed form on file with the PDF attached.

4. 4

   Print and deposit

   Print the check draft on blank check stock with your laser printer, and deposit it at your bank.

Does a faxed authorization form count?

It can be evidence that your customer authorized the payment. In DraftPay, an owner or manager records it on file: the PDF is sealed into the record along with who signed it, when they did, and your confirmation that you hold it. Your customer is emailed that it's on file, with a link to stop it, and gets a notice for every draft under it.

An approval through DraftPay's own link is easier to prove, because it ties the approval to a verified email address and a time. What you need to keep is a question for your own counsel; this isn't legal advice. How authorization works.

What if the fax is hard to read?

Fax pages are low resolution, and one misread digit points a draft at the wrong account. DraftPay checks the routing number's built-in check digit and flags one that doesn't add up, but compare the account number with the fax yourself. If it's unclear, ask for a sharper fax or a photo of the check.

Some fax services send TIFF images. DraftPay reads PDF, JPG, PNG, WebP and GIF files, so set your fax service to send PDFs, or save the page as a PDF first.

How do you keep faxed bank details safe?

• Don't leave faxed checks sitting on the machine or in a shared inbox.
• In DraftPay, account numbers are encrypted the moment they're saved, and screens show only the last four digits.
• Handle the fax itself under your own record-keeping rules, and shred paper copies you no longer need.