The United States Postal Service is the national postal service of the U.S. Whether you want to send mail to a big city or want to access a remote area, USPS is the only service that gives that access. The USPS network is wide, and its services are diverse.
The postal service covers 160 million residences, businesses, and post office boxes for delivering parcels, mail, government checks, money orders, and whatnot.
The services of USPS are for residential users, businesses, governments, and even across boundaries.
Similarly, the postal service also facilitates the U.S. residents with different money services. News about USPS cashier checks picked up the hype some time back, and a lot of people are curious about the new addition by the US Postal Service.
What is a USPS carrier check? What are the limits, procedures, and alternatives? Many people want to know everything about cashier checks USPS.
Therefore, we have come up with a complete article about USPS cashier or teller checks. You will get to know everything about the new service of USPS and alternatives if the teller checks are inaccessible.
So let’s get into it.
USPS Services
Before we get into the money services of USPS, it is important to have a brief go-through of the retail services provided by the United States Postal Service. So here are some of the services the department provides to the residents of the country:
- Mail and shipping services for domestic parcels as well as international deliveries
- Media mail is an affordable method to send media and educational material like printed music, video and sound recordings, books, films, printed educational reference charts, etc.,
- Solutions for small businesses include streamlining shipping, USPS loyalty rewards, marketing, and advertising help
- Passport application for all residents of the United States
- Military care packages via priority mail
- Money services at national and international levels
- Send or receive money orders via USPS
- PC Postage
- Paying for Merchandise(businesses)
- Stamp collecting
USPS Check Cashing Pilot
The U.S Postal Service has entered into the banking services by launching the check cashing service. The service surrounds payroll and business checks. The institution started the service in September 2021, and the service was available at four locations as a pilot testing
If you are residing in Washington, D.C., Falls Church, Va.; Baltimore, Md, and the Bronx. N.Y., you can avail of the check cashing service of USPS. The United States Postal Service has launched the check cashing service as part of its retail services portfolio.
How the service works is that you can cash the paychecks or business checks in exchange for Visa gift cards. In the coming months, the institution will be launching the service at a large level covering most parts of the U.S.
What Is the Limit Of Check Cashing?
Currently, the USPS has allowed cashing checks up to $500. Therefore, you cannot cash with USPS if you are in one of the four locations, but your check’s value is above $500. You will need to use other money services or banks to cash your check.
Again, the USPS redeem the paychecks or business checks for Visa Gift Card top-up up to $500. If you are looking to receive cash against your check, USPS is not the service you should be relying on.
Can I Purchase a Cashier Check From USPS?
USPS has just recently stepped into the scene of banking services by facilitating customers pay bills or cash checks. However, if you think that you can purchase a cashier’s check at USPS, you are mistaken.
USPS is not authorized to issue cashier or teller checks to customers. Therefore, you will need a registered and authorized bank or credit union if you want a teller check to pay a large sum of money to a person or a business.
Can I Cash Cashier Checks With USPS?
Although USPS is offering a cash checking service for certain checks at limited locations in the U.S, you cannot cash your cashier checks with USPS. Currently, the institution is accepting only paychecks or business checks worth no more than $500.
The answer to the question ‘can I cash cashier checks with USPS?’ is no. You have to visit authorized stores, banks, or credit unions if you want to cash a teller check payable to you. However, if you have a business check worth $500 or less, you can visit USPS in Washington, Baltimore, Falls Church, or the Bronx and exchange it for a Visa Gift Card top-up.
What Is the Alternative Of USPS Cashier Checks?
Now you know that USPS is not offering a cashier checks service. But you might be interested in other alternatives to cashier checks you can rely on for sending or receiving money.
Here are the alternatives to cashier checks if you want to use USPS money services:
- Business Check Cashing –With USPS, you can cash your business checks worth $500 or less at four locations.
- Paycheck Cashing –Redeem your paycheck of $500 or less at any of the four locations of USPS for Visa Gift Cards top-up.
- Money Order –send or receive money orders of up to $1000 across all the states of the U.S.
How To Send Money With Money Orders?
Money orders are the most popular alternative to cashier checks as they are safe, affordable, widely accepted, and do not have an expiry date.
Other benefits of using money orders are easy tracking and follow-up if the money order gets damaged, lost, or stolen.
With USPS, you can send domestic money orders across all states with a single order value of up to $1000. Here is how you can send money orders within the U.S. via the United States Postal Service:
Step 1. Go to any post office location near your residence.
Step 2. Decide the amount between $1 to $1000, and use your debit card, cash, or traveler’s check to make the payment. Credit cards are not accepted for sending domestic money orders via USPS.
Step 3. You will fill out the money order with the guidance of a retail associate and pay the amount of the money order plus the issuing fee.
Step 4. Receive the receipt of the money order and keep it safe for tracking.
Money Order Fees
What about the money order issuance charges you must pay to the USPS?
The issuing fee is usually a nominal amount, and the institutions have categorized it according to the money order amount. Here is what you can expect to pay as an issuance fee when using USPS Money Order Service:
- If the dollar amount of the money order is between $0.01 to $500, an issuing fee of $1.65 is charged.
- If the dollar amount of the money order is between $500.01 to $1000, an issuing fee of $2.20 is charged.
- You will pay the issuing fee of $0.55 for the Postal Military money orders. Military facilities generally issue these money orders.
How To Cash Money Orders At USPS?
If you have received a domestic money order from someone, one thing to be sure about is that there is no expiry date or accrued interest on these orders. So how do you cash the money orders payable to you?
Here is what you need to do to cash your money orders at the USPS post office:
Step 1. Make sure that you have received an original money order. To confirm, check the Ben Franklin watermark on the left side, a multicolor thread with letters USPS weaves in and out of the paper, and the dollar amount has not been erased or changed.
Step 2. Take the money order and visit the nearest post office.
Step 3. Make sure that you have not signed your money order and that you have your primary photo ID along with you.
Step 4. Go to the retail associate and sign the money order in front of him. Receive the cash from the counter.
If you are in a rural area, the rural carrier has the authority to cash the order on the spot, depending on the availability of enough cash.
Conclusion
We have shared everything you need to know about USPS cashier checks. It is important to know that the postal service has not started the service of cashing or issuing cashier checks. They have entered the banking services like check cashing of payroll checks and business checks but as a pilot test. You can use USPS’s alternative money order service to send or receive money with security ensured.
