How to read a cheque

From time, you may need to read a cheque in order to give your banking information (like when you’re requesting to move to direct deposit). Here is a quick guide that breaks down what the numbers mean. We also provide a number of examples as cheque layouts can vary.

Before we get started with those, here are some helpful hints:

• Transit / Branch numbers are always 5 digits
  
  
• Bank / Financial Institution numbers are always 3 digits
  
  
• Account numbers are always a minimum of 7 digits
  • If there is a designation number, include it as part of the account number.
  • Do not use spaces or dashes in the number.
    
    
• To avoid entry errors, verify by reading it backwards to make sure that no numbers are out of order.