Legally, a check is a document that orders a bank to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the check has been issued. In other words, a check is a written, dated, and signed instrument that contains an unconditional order directing a bank to pay a definite sum of money to a payee.  Between the years 2017 and 2018, approximately 7% of all transactions in the U.S. were made with checks.2