Is it possible for an individual to refuse a cheque in France?
In any country, individuals (and shops) can reject any form of payment that is not Legal Tender - defined by law as a payment form that must be accepted. Shops are typically more generous, because they want to do business with you, but individuals are in a different position. In France, only official coins and bills are declared as Legal Tender (so if they don't want to, individuals don't even need to accept bank transfers). This is for doubts you need to pay. In addition, as you are not forced to do business with them, people and shops can require whatever they feel like to require - if you want to buy their car, they can ask you to stand on your head and spit coins, and if you don't like it, they don't sell to you. (They won't do much business then, probably)
Just have the associate sign the back and then deposit it.  It's called a third party cheque and is perfectly legal.  I wouldn't be surprised if it has a longer hold period and, as always, you don't get the money if the cheque doesn't clear. Now, you may have problems if it's a large amount or you're not very well known at the bank.  In that case you can have the associate go to the bank and endorse it in front of the teller with some ID.  You don't even technically have to be there.  Anybody can deposit money to your account if they have the account number. He could also just deposit it in his account and write a cheque to the business. A bit anecdotal, but I once studied Erasmus and one of my buddies was from France. Long story short, he was to be paid a monthly stipend for living/studying expenses from the French gov't (very typical for Erasmus/study abroad in Europe). He didn't receive his FIRST check until about 4 months after he had returned to France (~10 months later than expected). When I last asked a certain large bank in the US (in 2011 or 2012), they didn't offer expiring personal checks. (I think they did offer something like that for business customers.) They also told me that, even if the payee cashes the check a year later and the check bounces, even if it's because I have closed the respective account, he will be able to go to the police and file a report against me for non-payment. (This is what the customer service rep told me on the phone after a bit of prodding, but someone else feel free to improve this answer and fix details or disagree; it's hard to believe and quite outrageous if true.) Yes same for me. But the company was complete shit, and offered debit cards for people who didn't have a bank account.   That does not mean they **can't** offer paper cheques, it means they **won't**. A very important distinction. "1.Why is there no ""United States Treasury"" endorsement? Why should there be, and what do you think it would look like? Some person at Treasury sitting at a desk all day signing ""Uncle Sam""? At most you would expect to see some stamp, because it's clear that no person is going to sign all of these checks. 2.Can I have the check returned for proper endorsement? No, this is none of your business unless you have some serious reason to believe that someone other than the treasury cashed your check. (If that were really your concern, then you'd have a bigger issue than the endorsement.) 3.If I am required to endorse checks made out to me, why isn't the US Treasury? As others have noted, an endorsement is often not required as long as the name on the check matches a name on the account to which it is deposited.  Individual banks may have stricter rules, but that's between you and your bank." "If the cheque is crossed (as almost all are these days), it can only be paid into an account in the name of the person it was written out to: it cannot be paid into another's account, nor can it be ""cashed""1 – see the rules on ""Crossed"" cheques. Note: that while the recipient of the cheque cannot (legally) alter this state of afairs, the writer of a cheque that was printed pre-crossed can – at least technically – cancel the crossing (see above link). Probably the best the OP can do is pay in the cheque on the friend's behalf (as described in Ben Millwood's answer) and then either lend the friend some money until they are mobile and can get some cash to repay the OP (or have the friend write one of their own cheques which the OP can pay into their bank account). 1 As mentioned in the last section of the rules on crossed cheques, the only exception is that designated ""Cheque cashing shops"" have special arrangements to deposit cheques which they have cashed (after deducting a fee). However, they would (should?) require proof of identity (of the original payee) and so are unlikely to be of any help (and probably not worth the cost for £35).  Having said that, I've never used one, so have no idea how strict they are in practice." I have a visa with Scotiabank and I purposefully keep a negative balance at times. The guy at the bank said it was a great idea. I have never received a cheque, nor do I want one. The reason is that it allows me to make quick purchases without having to worry about paying back and due dates. Only with large purchases do I allow myself to do that. I still check in with my account every once in a while just to make sure everything is all right. It allows for good money management and piece of mind. I have been doing it for a couple of years and have not been penalized at all. (Wouldn't really make sense to do so though.) "Anyone can walk into a bank, say ""Hi, I'm a messenger, I have an endorsed check and a filled out deposit slip for Joe Blow who has an account here, please deposit this check for him, as he is incapacitated. Straight deposit.""  They'll fiddle on their computer, to see if they can identify the deposit account definitively, and if they can, and the check looks legit, ""thanks for taking care of our customer sir.""  Of course, getting a balance or cashback is out of the question since you are not authenticated as the customer. I have done the same with balance transfer paperwork, in that case the bank knew the customer and the balance transfer was his usual. If the friend does not have an account there, then s/he should maybe open an account at an ""online bank"" that allows deposit by snapping photos on a phone, or phone up a branch, describe her/his situation and see if they have any options.  Alternately, s/he could get a PayPal account.  Or get one of those ""credit card swipe on your phone"" deals like Square or PayPal Here, which have fees very close to nil, normally cards are swiped but you can hand-enter the numbers.   Those are fairly easy to get even if you have troubles with creditworthiness.  S/he would need to return the check to the payer and ask the payer to pay her/him one of those ways.  The payer may not be able to, e.g. if they are a large corporation. A last possibility is if the check is from a large corporation with whom s/he continues to do business with.  For instance, the electric company cashiers out your account after you terminate service at your old location. But then you provision service at a new location and get a new bill, you can send their check right back to them and say ""Please apply this to my new account"". If s/he is unable to get any of those because of more serious problems like being in the country illegally, then, lawful behavior has its privileges, sorry. There are lots of unbanked people, and they pay through the nose for banking services at those ghastly check-cashing places, at least in America.  I don't have a good answer for how to get a check cashed in that situation." All banks in the US that I have ever worked with will allow you to deposit checks if: In your case, you have 3 options: "If you wish to lend them the money, make the check payable to the order of  ""loan"", not directly to your son or daughter." "Not sure about specific French laws. Assuming its not a political party receiving such donations, and it an normal individual ... General common sense answer would be; but it could very well be a generous donation from someone in the Caimans or Germany The onus would be on you to prove it is a generous donation. What is the threshold between ""this money looks like money-laundering"" and ""this money looks like a generous donation""? There is no threshold. By default if you don't know the source; it is money-laundering.  In particular: is it up to me to explain where the money comes from, or is it the sender's problem?  You have to explain the source of money.  That the Bank in Germany may have to do its own due-diligence is separate from your having to explain the source of funds." "In India, Can I write a multi-city cheque to myself (Self cheque) and present to non-home branch to withdraw money? If yes, Can bank deny this transaction?  Yes you can. There are limitations on the amount advised from time to time.  What is ""genuine transactions / bonafide remittances""? The multi-city cheque were created / issued to ease the clearing time. Previously outstation cheques would take max of 1 month by law. having a Multi-City cheque reduces this to max of 3 days. So what the clause says is one should use MCC to make genuine payments for parties outside your city. These should not be used as conduits for money laundering activities. No cash payment to third parties It means cash payment is not given to others except to account holder in non-home branch. A 3rd party can withdraw from home branch.  Suppose someone gave me a cheque and I don't have an account in that bank (or I am out of town, so I go to a non-home branch), how can I get the money in cash? You can't. Generally I have seen that this can be en-cashed in the same city and not necessarily the same branch. However its been sometime when I have done this. Best is deposit this into your Bank or have payer initiate an IMPS/NEFT transfer." As someone who spends a lot of time in France, I learned that many French banks will issue debit cards to US citizens, as an add-on feature to a bank account.  The fees are not low.  Societe Generale charges 8 Euros per month, Credit Agricole charges 30 Euros a year, BNP Paribas charges 12 Euros a month.  I'm sure other banks will issue cards as well.  You need to show 2 items proving US residence, such as a utility bill, plus a passport.  They can open an account immediately, on that basis and it takes about 7-10 days to get your debit card. "First, there are not necessarily two accounts involved.  Usually the receiving party can take the check to the bank on which it is drawn and receive cash.  In this case, there is only one bank, it can look to see that the account on which the check is drawn has sufficient funds, and make an (essentially irrevocable) decision to pay the bearer.  (Essentially irrevocable precisely because the bearer did not necessarily have to present account information.) The more usual case is that the receiving party deposits the check into an account at their own bank.  The receiving party's bank then (directly or indirectly - in the US via the Federal Reserve) presents the check to the paying party's bank.  At that point if the there are insufficient funds, the check ""bounces"" and the receiving party's account will be debited.  The receiving party's bank knows that account number because, in this case, the receiving party is a customer of the bank.  This is why funds from check deposits are typically not available for immediate withdrawal." "What does it mean that the bank will ""hold you responsible""? Clearly   the money won't be credited. Will you be charged a fee like an NSF   cheque? Will they try to prosecute you? Is there any way to confirm whether a cashiers cheque is forged? Could you for example tell your bank that you were uncertain of the origin, and ask them to confirm it? Can you call the issuer and verify (from the serial number) that they did in fact issue a cheque for that amount with you as the payee? Even calling the bank might not help. The first verification is that the bank exists, and that the account number and name match and that they did issue a check. But that doesn't cover the situation where the person that sent you the check wasn't who they claimed to be. That is the theft that could take weeks to find."