Can I cash a cashier's check at any bank?
The classic Nigerian scam involves sending fraudulent cashier's checks to unwitting recipients who then deposit them in their account.  The bank reverses these deposits once they discover the check is not valid.  At least in the US and in the parts of the EU I'm familiar with (the Netherlands), the method of the Nigerian scam is consistent and banks will reverse the deposit after some holding period. Given this, it's unlikely that most banks will convert an arbitrary cashier's check to cash without any means to recover the amount should the check be fraudulent. "At least in the US, a Cashier's Check is just like a regular personal check - only it's guaranteed by the bank itself, so the person accepting it can be pretty certain the check won't be returned for insufficient funds...if the check is genuine! Most banks therefore have a policy for cashier's checks that is very similar to their policies on regular checks and money orders: if you are a member with an account in good standing, they'll make all or part of the money available to you according to their fund availability policy, which is usually anywhere from ""immediately"" to 7-10 days. With amounts over $5,000, banks will tend to put a hold on the funds to ensure it clears and they get their money. If you are not a member then many banks will refuse to cash the check at all, unless the cashier's check is drawn on on that brand of bank. So if the cashier's check is issued by, say, Chase Bank, Chase banks will usually be willing to cash out the entire check to you immediately (with properly provided ID). Because the bank is guaranteed by them they are able to check their system and ensure the check is real and can clear the check instantly. This policy isn't just up to individual banks entirely, as it is defined by United States federal banking policies and federal regulations on availability of funds. If you really must cash the check without a holding period and won't/can't have a bank account of your own to perform this, then you will generally need to go into a branch of the bank that is guaranteeing the check to be able to cash it out fully right away. Note that since the check might be issued by a bank with no branch near you, you should have a back-up plan. Generally banks will allow you to setup a special/limited savings-only account to deposit your check, even if you don't have a checking account, so if no other option works you might try that as well. The funds availability policies are the same, but at least you'll be able to cash it generally in 10 days time (and then close the account and withdraw your money)." Normally if the amount of a cashiers check is over $5,000, a bank (like Wells Fargo) may put a 10 business day hold on it to make sure the transaction is sound. Cashiers check is as good as cash. I use them all the time as banks don't carry over 2-3k anymore. I can bring the cashiers check anywhere and thus cash it for u without an account. It's basically a piece of paper that says these funds are set aside from the issuers account just for and only for the check. That's why it's accepted anywhere. It's a gurantee from one bank to another that the funds are there waiting to be transferred. The whole point of the check is so the funds are available immediately. The bank will call the issuing bank verify the Check is real and than cash it immediately. You don't pay a fee to buy the cashiers check just to wait for it to clear like a normal free check. Its immediate and just as good as cash. I use them weekly/monthly for amounts from 5k up to over 100k.
"I've been prompted to turn my comments into an answer -  Disclosure - I am a Realtor. I work for an investor for whom an offer on a house he will buy describes him as a ""cash buyer."" This phrase most often means one of two things -  The buyer has funds that are liquid enough to either wire the cash or produce a cashier's check in some number of days, a week or two would be common. (And not wait for another house to sell) The other point of this is that the seller is not willing to finance the property. The flip side being that the seller will take a down payment and let the buyer pay over time.  I am nearly 54, and I'm open to the fact that language changes. Definition follows usage. In personal finance, we refer to a stock/bond/cash mix. Here, the word ""cash"" simply means money such as money market or short term T-bills. A 60/30/10 mix doesn't mean I have a briefcase of cash under my bed for that 10%.  To answer the OP, I'd ask the seller does ""cash"" mean - Keep in mind, when a seller has a buyer who needs to sell their home first, there can be a chain going a few levels. When it's ""turtles all the way down"" it becomes too risky to the seller.  No, you are not out of luck. I'd open a dialog with the seller or their agent if any. Sales is all about understanding what each person's goal is." "(This answer is based on the US banking system; if that isn't where you are, please edit appropriately.) There are probably two places the thief could go to cash the check: Your bank The issuer's bank Third-party banks are unlikely to want to cash a check drawn on a different bank for a payee who isn't their customer.  So notifying both of these banks would be a good start. Also, hopefully the thief does not look like you and won't be able to pass using your ID.  The thief will also have to forge your endorsement on the check - if he goes to your bank, they can check it against your signature which they have on file, and hopefully it won't match.  (The issuer's bank wouldn't notice that, of course, so read on.) Even if the check is cashed, you should ultimately be okay, as I understand it.  The issuer of the check still owes you the money; he can't prove he's paid you until he has the cancelled check (or its image) showing your valid endorsement.  So he needs to give you another check, eventually.  (This assumes the check was payment for a debt of some kind; if it was a gift or some other sort of voluntary payment, he could at this point change his mind and decide not to pay you after all.) The issuer should be okay too.  If the check is cashed and debited from his account, he should go to his bank and tell them the endorsement is forged.  They may ask you to sign something where you state under penalty of perjury that the signature isn't yours.  Then they will re-credit his account, so that he can pay you again. (Normally the bank  that cashed the check will be on the hook for the loss; it was their responsibility to make sure they were paying the rightful payee, and they failed in that responsibility.  Various procedural issues can shift that liability between banks, but ultimately it shouldn't be either customer who suffers unless someone did something really negligent, like not reporting the theft for months.) Obviously this would all be much simpler if the issuer can call his bank right away and stop payment.  This can be done over the phone or online, so ""out of town"" shouldn't be an issue unless he is out in the woods or something.  If he can talk to you, he can talk to them." "The answers here are all correct.  This is 100% scam, beyond any reasonable doubt.  Don't fall for it.  However, I felt it valuable to explain what would happen were you to fall for this.  It's not all that hard to understand, but it involves understanding some of the time delays that exist in modern banking today. The most important thing to understand is that depositing a check does not actually put dollars in your account, even though it appears to.  A check is not legal tender for debts public and private.  It's a piece of paper known as a ""bill of exchange.""  It's an authorization for a payee (you), to request that their bank pay you the amount on the check.  A transaction made with a check does not actually draw to a close until your bank and their bank communicate and cause the actual transfer of funds to take place.  This process is called ""clearing"" the check. Despite living in the modern times, this process is slow.  It can take 7-10 days to clear a check (especially if it is an international bank).  This is not good for the banking business.  You can imagine how difficult it would be to tell a poor client, who is living paycheck to paycheck, that he can't have his pay until the check clears a week later.  Banks have an interest in hiding this annoying feature of the modern banking system, so they do.  When you deposit a check, the bank will typically advance you the money (an interest free loan, in effect) while the check ""floats"" (i.e. until it clears).  This creates the illusion that the money is actually in your account for most intents and purposes.  (presumably a bank would distinguish between the floating check and a cleared check if you tried to close out your account, but otherwise it looks and feels like the money is in your hands). Of course, if the check is dishonored (because the payer had insufficient funds, or the account simply did not exist), your bank will not get the money.  At this moment, they will cancel any advances you received and notify you that the check bounced.  Again, this happens 7-10 days later. The general pattern of this scam is that they will pay you by a method which clears slowly, like a check.  They will then ask you to withdraw the money using a faster clearing method (like a wire transfer or withdrawing the cash).  Typically they will be encouraging you to move quickly (they are on a timetable... when their check bounces, the game is up!)  At this time, it will appear as though the account has a positive balance, but in fact it has a negative balance plus an advance on the check.  This looks great until 7-10 days later, when the check bounces.  At that time, the bank will cancel the advance, and reality will set in.  You will now have an open bank account, legally opened by you in your own name, which is deeply in debt.  Meanwhile, the scammer walks away with all the money that you sent them (which cleared quickly). There are many variants which can hide the details.  Some can play games with check kiting to try to make your first check clear (then try to rope you in for a more painful hit).  Some will change the instruments they use (checks are the easy ones, so they're simply most common).  Don't try to think ""maybe this one is legit.""  These scammers literally make a living off of making shady transactions look legit. Things I would recommend looking out for:" "HypoVereinsbank (member of UniCredit group), a few savings banks (""Sparkasse"") and VR Banks offer cash (bill) deposit machines.  However, it can take a few business days until the deposit is credited to your checking account, which has to be with the same bank. Google for ""Bargeldeinzahlungsautomat"" (=cash deposit machine). As Duffbeer stated correctly, HSBC Trinkaus which is the German arm of the HSBC group does not operate any ATMs in Germany. In addition they do not share the same bank accounts. So I would recommend going with the classic banks mentioned above." buy a cashiers check with the cash (a CRT will be nec if over 10 K) and deposit the cashiers check If the check is made out to him, he will have to endorse it. Which means that at some point he will have to physically have the check in his hands. At which point, he could probably just deposit it himself. If there's some problem getting the check to him for him to sign it, you could call the bank and ask if they'll accept it for deposit to his account without a signature. I understand some banks will do this. I would be very surprised if they would let you deposit a check made out to your son to your account. They'd have no way of knowing if your son was agreeable to this or if you were stealing his money. Traditionally, the person the check was made out to could endorse it, give the check to someone else, and then the second person could endorse it and deposit it to their (the second person's) account. That is, the endorsement would have your son's signature, and below that, your signature. But I understand some banks won't accept this any more, so you'd be best to check before trying it. It is possible, i've contacted different banks, and only one bank (Wells Fargo) didn't say that they need all members in person, but gave me a form which my colleague filled to authorize me to open an account. For those who don't know, credit card checks are blank checks that your credit card company sends you.  When you fill them out and spend them, you are taking a cash advance on your credit card account.  You should be aware that taking a cash advance on your credit card normally has extra fees and finance charges above what you have with regular credit card transactions. That having been said, when you take one of these to your bank and try to deposit them, it is entirely up to bank policy how long they will make you wait to use these funds.  They want to be sure that it is a legitimate check and that it will be honored.  If your teller doesn't know the answer to that question, you'll need to find someone at the bank who does.  If you don't like the answer they give you, you'll need to find another bank. I would think that if the credit card is from Chase, and you are trying to deposit a credit card check into a Chase checking account, they should be able to do that instantly.  However, bank policy doesn't always make sense.