Who Is the Remitter on a Money Order?
The remitter on a money order is the person who purchases the order. For example, a person sending a payment in the mail who does not have checks may purchase a money order to make that payment. In doing so, that person is the remitter of the money order.
In addition to money orders, a remitter line is present on cashier’s checks, teller checks and some traveler’s checks. A merchant or seller who requests a remitter payment, meaning some form of payment other than cash or personal check, usually requests it to lower his or her risk. Remitter payments are guaranteed funds and almost never bounce.
There are many reasons a merchant or seller would request a remitter payment. As previously mentioned, merchants feel safer using remitter payments because they are guaranteed funds. This is usually preferable when doing business with strangers. For instance, an individual selling his or her car may wish for the person buying it to present guaranteed funds because the two parties have never conducted business together. Money orders and cashier’s checks are also commonly used when sending money to prisoners. Other reasons include the fact that there are less forgeries of remitter payments than cash and personal checks, and these forms of payment do not cost the merchant or seller additional fees to cash.
