Traveler's cheque

A traveler's cheque (also traveller's cheque, travellers cheque, traveller's check or traveler's check) is a preprinted cheque for a fixed amount. The person who buys it must sign it and then sign it again when he "cashes" it. It is a good way for a traveller to take money when going on holiday. If a traveler's cheque is stolen it can be replaced so long as the person still has a receipt to prove that he bought it.

Traveler's cheques were a large part of the business of American Express. Since 2005 the American Express have been issuing "American Express Travelers Cheque Cards". These can be used in stores like a credit card.

Traveler's Cheque Media

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  Obverse and reverse side of traveller's cheque of National Bank of Poland (nominal value: 1000 Polish złoty); sold in April 1989 in Budapest (Hungary), for use during travel to Poland only, never used

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  Security hologram against counterfeit on cheques with the denomination of 50 US-Dollars from American Express, c. 2012

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  Coutts & Co. traveller's cheque, for 2 pounds. Issued in London, 1970s. Langmead Collection. On display at the British Museum in London.

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  A number of American Express cheques bought at the same time at a bank in 2012, which show one of the safety features - the consecutive serial numbers. The buyer gets a printed list with the numbers, and when cashing one or more, they mark those on the list. When the rest is lost or stolen, the list serves as proof of the fact which cheques were already cashed.

Other websites

• American Express Traveler's Cheques merchant site Archived 2009-02-26 at the Wayback Machine