Cashier's check.
In plain English
A cashier's check is a check the bank issues against its own money, not the money in your personal account. You hand the bank the amount plus any fee, the bank moves that money to its own funds, and a bank officer signs the check. Because the bank guarantees it, a cashier's check is treated as more secure than a personal check and is often required for large purchases like a home down payment or a used car. It is not magic, though: fake cashier's checks are a common scam, so a careful recipient still waits for it to truly clear before treating the money as theirs.
01Why it matters
Sellers in big-ticket deals often demand a cashier's check because it shifts the promise of payment from your account to the bank, lowering the chance the check bounces.
02The math, step by step
Buying a used car for $9,000, the seller asks for a cashier's check. You go to your bank, hand over $9,000 plus the bank's fee (banks set their own fee, often a flat charge of roughly $10 to $15, as an illustration only), and the bank prints a check drawn on its own account made out to the seller.
03What this is NOT
A cashier's check is not a certified check. A cashier's check is drawn on the bank's own funds and signed by the bank; a certified check is your own personal check that the bank verifies and earmarks, but the money still sits in your account until it clears.
04Receipts
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Plain-English answers from our glossary. Receipts included. Never advice.
Educational tool. Answers come only from ClearMoneySchool's published glossary and are not advice. Why we never give advice