What are duplicate checks?

Many people don't realize that checks don't need to be printed or written by hand to be valuable. This is because an original check will often have a duplicate which can still be used for payment, even without the signature of the payee.

Duplicate checks are often called "copy checks" because they only have the bank account information on them. Their purpose is that if you lose your original draft of a check, the bank will still accept it as payment for goods or services rendered with just its information on it.