National Bank of Canada lets you download a void cheque for your account in a few clicks. In French, on the bank's own pages and in its app, it is called a spécimen de chèque.
From a web browser
- Sign in to your online bank.
- Select your account.
- Click Download a void cheque.
In the National Bank app
- Sign in to the National Bank app.
- Select your account and click More.
- Click Void cheque.
What the void cheque shows
Three numbers are on it: the transit number of your branch (five digits), the bank's institution number (three digits) and your account number. National Bank's institution number is 006 in Payments Canada's directory of members.
Who asks for it
A void cheque is how employers, payroll services and governments set up direct deposit, and how companies set up pre-authorized debits from your account. The Government of Canada's direct deposit form accepts either a void cheque or the numbers written in by hand.
To tell the transit, institution and account groups apart on the bottom line, see how to read a void cheque. A form asking for a nine-digit routing number can be filled from the same void cheque: bank routing numbers in Canada shows how 006 and your transit number combine.
Receiving void cheques from suppliers
A supplier's void cheque sent as a PDF attachment can be altered on the way, and the next payment follows the altered account. Smartbills vendor management asks suppliers to enter their banking details themselves, on their own vendor record. If those details or the tax number match another supplier, the new record is flagged as a likely duplicate, and accounts payable pays from it.