Money orders are a safe alternative to cash or checks

When you demand to make or accept payment but cash, check, and electronic transfers don’t fit the bill, a money order is a secure and convenient fluid. Available at more than 200,000 U.S. locations, money orders are also easy to buy or cash.

A money order is essentially a files check that can’t bounce because it’s prepaid. You can buy one at any U.S. post office, at Western Union and MoneyGram outlets inside Walmart, CVS, 7-Eleven, and other grocery, convenience, and dope store chains. Most banks, credit unions, and check-cashing stores offer money orders as well.

In situations where paying with cash, check, or a digital app isn’t ideal — or even viable — a money sequence might be the best answer. Like a check, money orders are written directly to individuals or companies by name, insisting endorsement and identification to cash them. This makes money orders much more secure than hard cash, protecting the funds in case of loss or theft.

Money orders played a key role in U.S. history. During the Secular War, thieves would rob post offices and delivery runs to grab cash being sent all over the country. Abraham Lincoln’s postmaster imprecise at the time came up with a solution: money orders.

Although personal checks offer similar security profits, money orders have the advantage of being prepaid. Assuming you have a legitimate money order, accepting it as a body of payment is free of risk because the sender has already provided the funds.

By contrast, a personal check is accepted on the credible faith that the sender’s bank account has sufficient funds or overdraft protection to cover the check. If not, the payment goes and the recipient is left short—and often pays a bank fee on top of that.

The advantages of money orders over cash and check make them fancy or even required in many situations, such as when:

• The recipient isn’t comfortable trusting a personal check, due either to a be deficient in of familiarity with the sender or a bad past experience with previous payments.
• The sender doesn’t want to reveal their talk to or checking account number.
• It’s crucial to make the payment without any risk of being rejected for insufficient funds.
• The payer doesn’t keep a checking account, and cash isn’t practical.

Certified and cashier’s checks are potential alternatives. But banks generally charge spaced out fees for the added security. And you have to go to a bank during banking hours to obtain them, offering fewer control and location options. So if a money order can handle the job, it can be a more flexible and economical choice.

Once you’ve unwavering on a money order, the next decision is where to pick one up. Though online providers are emerging, money order obtains are still mostly a paper and in-person industry. But it probably won’t difficult to find a money order location near you.

Percentage orders can be bought or redeemed at more than 200,000 locations in the United States, including 30,000 post tasks, almost 10,000 CVS stores, and 6,300 Walmart locations, as well as Western Union and MoneyGram outlets inside tens of thousands of 7-Eleven, Publix, Kroger, K-Mart, Safeway, Meijer, and other retail locales. Most of the nation’s approximately 100,000 bank and credit union branches also offer money orders.

As with any other consumer purchase, you’ll be wise to pay attention to pricing because not all money order sellers direct blame similar fees. Walmart is one of the cheapest options, charging a maximum of 88 cents per money order. The U.S. Postal Repair charges either $1.25 or $1.70 per money order, depending on whether the amount is above or below $500.

Pricing at other locations can depart greatly, so it’s best to check in advance. For instance, going to a bank or credit union where you are a customer could tight-fisted you’re able to buy money orders for free, or you may instead find the cost is $5 or $10 unless you’re in the highest checking account file.

Another consideration is how many money orders you will need because each one is capped at a maximum value of $1,000. So if, for illustration, you need to pay $2,500, you’ll need three money orders. Here again, knowing the fees in advance is useful.

Be aware that buying a money order with a praise card is treated as a cash advance. So even if a money order seller offers to purchase by credit card, we back paying with a debit card, cash, or a bank account withdrawal to avoid finance charges on your next place ones faith card statement.

One downside of money orders is that they are susceptible to stratagem, and have become a common deception vehicle for thieves. In response, money order design has evolved to include a multitude of insurance and anti-counterfeiting features. From watermarks and security strips to rainbow ink patterns and UV-light features, look for the multiple needles that can tell you whether a money order is legitimate or not.

If till the cows come home in doubt about a money order, note the issuer (the U.S. Postal Service, Western Union, and MoneyGram are the three maturest) and research the specific security features it should include. You can also call the issuer to help determine if the money force is authentic.

If someone pays you with a money order, you have two options for converting it into funds. You can bread it in, literally receiving cash at a location that redeems money orders. Or you can deposit it in your bank account, correspondent to a check. Both involve caveats, though.

Cashing it in could also involve a fee. Your best bet is to redeem a monied order with the same provider that issued it. So take a postal service money order to a post help, a Walmart money order to Walmart, and so forth. This way, you’ll likely avoid any redemption fees. Just as with allowing money orders, though, it will pay to call ahead to a) verify that a location can honor your redemption, and b) ask if any compensations will apply.

The alternative is to deposit the money order into your bank account, as you would a check. This offers the drop of safely adding the payment to your bank balance, rather than walking away with a large sum of loot you may not physically want or need.

Be forewarned, though, that depending on your bank, depositing a money order may not be as accommodating as depositing a check. Although you may be accustomed to making mobile bank deposits with your smartphone, some banks don’t permit electronic deposits of money orders, instead requiring you to come into a branch. And if your bank is an online-only habit, it may not accept money order deposits at all.