Need to transport coin or pay a bill? A money order is a secure course of payment you can use in place of checks, cash or credit cards.

You'll need to know how to make full out a money order earlier y'all tin can send it. Completing a money order isn't complicated, but it does require entering the right information and doing then correctly. If yous're filling out a money order for the first time, it'southward helpful to understand how to do it step past step.

Where Can I Get a Coin Society?

You lot can purchase a coin society from a number of places. Some of the best options for purchasing money orders include:

  • Western Union
  • MoneyGram
  • U.Southward. Postal Service locations
  • Walmart
  • Drug stores
  • Grocery stores
  • Gas stations and convenience stores
  • Banks or credit unions, if you have an existing account

Guidelines regarding minimum or maximum money order amounts and how many coin orders you tin can buy at in one case may differ past establishment. For example, the Postal Service caps single domestic money orders sent inside the U.S. at $1,000. The fees you'll pay to purchase a money order can depend on where you lot purchase it from, equally well.

What Data Is Needed for a Money Guild?

A coin guild is substantially a type of prepaid check. And, just as with a bank check, there are sure things you accept to include for it to be valid.

Money orders can look different, depending on where y'all purchase them. Regardless of where y'all purchase a money club, you'll typically demand to fill in the post-obit to complete it:

  • Payee name
  • Payee'southward address
  • Appointment of purchase
  • Dollar amount you're paying
  • Your proper noun and address
  • Reason for the payment

Assuming all the data is filled out correctly, the person y'all're sending the money society to (the payee) should then be able to sign the dorsum and either deposit information technology into their depository financial institution account or cash it the manner they would a regular cheque.

How To Fill up Out a Money Guild

Filling out a money lodge is as simple as providing the required information to buy the social club. The appointment and dollar amount should exist automatically filled in for you; the rest you'll need to add together yourself.

Following these steps tin assist to ensure that your money society is properly completed earlier sending information technology off to the payee.

ane. Fill up In the Payee'due south Name

The payee is the political party that receives the money you lot're sending via money lodge. This could be a person, if you lot're making a cash payment to an individual. Or it could be the name of a business, if you're using the money club to pay a pecker.

The payee's or recipient'due south proper name should get in the field marked "Pay to the Society of" or "Pay to" on your money order. Write their proper noun clearly and in ink then that it can't be altered later if the coin club is lost or stolen.

Filling the payee field out first is important considering, until that'south filled in, anyone could write their name on the money order and cash it.

2. Add the Payee's Address

Below the space for the payee'due south proper noun, you should come across another field for the payee's address. This is where you'll add the recipient's accost information.

If the payee is a person, y'all may put their home address. If you're using a money society to make a payment to a business, you'll put the business accost here.

Again, information technology'southward important to write this information clearly and in ink. Double-check it to brand sure you're writing the street number and street name correctly.

ANNOTATED By FORBES ADVISOR  These sample images are provided for educational purposes simply.

three. Fill up In the Fields for Purchaser Information

Every bit the purchaser or person who buys the money gild, there are a couple of fields where you'll add your data.

First, you lot'll make full in your proper name. This spot may be marked "From" or "Purchaser" on the money order, depending on where you buy it.

Next, you'll write downwardly your accost. This typically goes underneath your name, if this data is required.

4. Complete the Memo Line

Somewhere on your money order, you lot may run across a "Memo" field. This is where you lot'll write the purpose of the money order.

For example, say you're using a money social club to purchase a used automobile from a private seller. You could write a note in the memo line specifying that that's what the money is being used for.

Or, if you're paying a nib, you could mention that in the memo line. You'll as well desire to include the account number for the nib you're paying here.

5. Finish the Money Club by Signing It

Somewhere on the money order, you should see a "Signature" field. This is where you lot'll want to add your signature once you've filled out the remainder of the money gild.

This final pace before you tin send it off to the recipient is not required for USPS postal money orders. (Indicator on paradigm higher up shows where such signature fields may appear on other money orders.)

Y'all may also run into a space for a signature on the dorsum of the money order, but that's not for you. That's where the payee signs the coin gild in one case they've received it.

What to Do Later Filling Out a Money Order

After you lot've filled out all the necessary fields on the coin society, read through it once again to exist sure all the information is right. If you lot see that you've made a error, don't endeavour to correct it yourself.

Instead, show the fault to the person or business you're buying the money social club from. Depending on their policy, they may be able to correct it for y'all. Or you might accept to abolish the money order if y'all've already paid for it and purchase a new one.

If you haven't paid for your money club yet, you lot'd need to do that outset before you tin send it. Typically, you demand to have cash or a debit card to pay for money orders. But some money social club issuers will allow you to pay with a credit bill of fare.

Aside from the face value of the money order, you'll also take to pay any fees the issuer charges, which can range from under a dollar to $5, depending on where you purchase the money order.

Once you've paid, hold on to your receipt. This receipt should include a tracking number that you can use to track the money gild and see when it's cashed.

Your receipt volition also come in handy if you afterwards need to cancel or supervene upon a coin order because it's lost or stolen. Without the original receipt, you may have a harder fourth dimension getting your money back if a money order comes up missing.

Coin Order Mistakes to Avoid

Filling out a money order shouldn't be a complicated process, if y'all know what information is needed and where it should go. But every bit you complete a money order, have care to avoid these common mistakes:

  • Misspelling the payee or recipient'due south proper noun
  • Writing the wrong payee or recipient address
  • Leaving the recipient field bare
  • Writing your name or address incorrectly
  • Non including an business relationship number in the memo line (if you're using the money lodge to pay a bill)
  • Forgetting to sign the money social club or signing information technology in the incorrect place
  • Losing rail of your receipt

Some other mistake to avoid is not comparing money gild purchase fees before you buy ane. Although money orders typically only toll a few dollars, some issuers charge college fees than others.

You should likewise review a money order issuer'southward policies on canceling or replacing a lost or stolen money lodge. Ideally, losing a coin lodge or having it stolen isn't something you have to worry well-nigh. Only if either scenario happens, it's helpful to know beforehand what yous'll demand to exercise to resolve the situation and go the money back.

Find The All-time Online Savings Accounts Of 2022

Lesser Line

A coin order can be a safe and secure way to transport money, but it's important to properly fill information technology out.

If yous can't find a location that sells coin orders, you have other options, including using cash, writing a personal cheque or getting a certified cheque from your bank. Mobile payment apps are also an option if you demand to ship coin quickly.

Go on in mind that opening a bank business relationship can exist a helpful and convenient choice for purchasing coin orders, managing your coin and making payments.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Do money orders need to exist signed?

Money orders need to be signed in order for the person who receives it to cash or deposit it. If you lot're sending a money order, your signature doesn't have to exist witnessed. But if y'all're depositing a coin lodge you received, your bank may want to run into you lot sign it in person.

How practise you deposit a coin order?

You can eolith a money order into a checking or savings account the same way y'all'd deposit a check. If you utilise mobile check deposit or an ATM, but sign the back of the money order, write your depository financial institution account number beneath your signature, and either have the photograph for a mobile eolith or insert the coin society into the ATM. If you choose to eolith the money order in person at your depository financial institution or credit union, you may need to bear witness ID to confirm that y'all're the rightful owner. The full dollar amount of the money order may not be bachelor for immediate withdrawal.

Who is the purchaser on a money guild?

The purchaser on a money order is the person who bought information technology and is using it to ship money. For case, if yous're using a money order to pay a bill, y'all would be the purchaser because yous're the i who bought it.

How much does a coin order cost?

Money order fees tin vary, depending on where you purchase them, but by and large you can wait to pay $i to $5 per lodge. Yous may exist able to purchase coin orders at places like Walmart, the U.S. Postal Service and your banking company.