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 Financial Literacy for Kids 

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Make a promise with a check

  Have you ever made a promise to someone? A check is a promise to pay someone money. When you get a check from someone, it means that they are promising to pay you. When someone gives you a check you take it to the bank. The bank knows that a check is a promise, and gives you the amount of money that’s written on the check. When you give a check to someone, they take it to their bank. Their bank gives them the amount of money you promised to pay.  
  A checking account is money that you keep at the bank. You can open a checking account and deposit money just like you do with your savings account.When someone goes to the bank with a check that you’ve given them, the bank uses your money from your checking account to pay them.

Hand with pen writing check

  You must always have enough money in your account to pay for the checks that you write. If you give someone a check, and the bank doesn’t have any of your money to pay for it, you’re breaking your promise. When you break your promise to pay, the bank will bounce your check, and charge your account a fee.

Bouncing a check means that the bank will not give any money to the person you gave the check to. You’ll still owe money to the person you promised to pay, and they probably won’t be too happy that you broke your promise.

Checks are very important pieces of paper. You must be very careful when you write a check because a check represents your money. Below is a picture of a check with all of the different parts numbered along with an explanation of its functions.

 

Sample check

1: Name & address: This is your name and address, and this tells the bank you’re the person making the promise.

2: Check Number: This number helps you keep track of whom you paid. You use this number to make a list of all the checks you write.

3: Date: Write the date here. This tells the bank when you promised to pay this money. It also helps you remember when you paid someone.

4: Pay to the Order of: Write the name of the person you are promising. This is how the bank knows whom to pay.

5: Numeric Amount: Write how much money you are promising to pay. Write it in numbers, for example: $20.00. Write your numbers clearly, so that the bank teller knows exactly how much you’ve promised to pay.

6: Written Amount: Write out how much you are promising to pay. For example: twenty dollars. This is for safety, so that no one can change the amount of money you are promising to pay. When dealing with cents, the number is written as a fraction over one hundred or one dollar. For example, 20 cents would be written as 20/100.

7: Bank Name: This is the name of the bank where you keep your money.

8: Memo Section: Allows you to write a note about the purpose of the check.

9: Router Number: Allows banks to quickly transfer money from one institution to another.

10: Signature Line: Indicates that you promise to fulfill your obligation.

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