MotusBank Sample Cheque: Everything you need to know to find and understand it

By Arthur Dubois | Published on 02 Mar 2022

From pre-authorizing payments to getting paid, sample cheques still come in handy… even though cheques are rarely used in Canada. The main reason you need a MotusBank sample cheque is to share your banking information with someone else.

Understanding Your MotusBank  Sample Cheque

If you know what the numbers at the bottom of your MotusBank  sample cheque mean, you can probably just share them… without having to go looking for a Sample Cheque in your banking portal every time someone asks for one.

So, here are the important features of a cheque in Canada that you should be able to recognize by looking at one :

1. Your home address

This is the information you don’t need to look at a sample cheque to know. However, it is often needed by those who ask you for a sample cheque.

2. Your branch address

As MotusBank is an online only bank, there are no brick and mortar branches. Rather all clients share the same “branch”. The address to use is: 531 Lake Street, St. Catharines, ON L2N 4H5

3. Your branch transit number

This is a 5-digit number that identifies the MotusBank  branch to which your bank account is associated. Again, MotusBank is an online only bank so all customers share the same “branch” and therefore the same branch transit number, which is 20002. 

4. Your bank Institution Number

The institution number is a three-digit number that identifies the financial institution you are dealing with, regardless of the branch you have chosen. MotusBank ’s institution number is 374.

5. Your account number (or folio number)

The account (or folio) number is the identifier for your bank account. Without the transit number and institution number, it cannot be used to transfer money. As a result, it is the most sensitive information you will find on your sample cheque, as it is the number that is associated with your bank account. This number varies in length depending on the financial institution but generally ranges from 7 to 12 digits.

How to find your sample cheque on the MotusBank online portal

Before the Internet, a sample cheque was a paper cheque with “SAMPLE” or “VOID” written on it to ensure that the cheque could not be used. If you have a chequebook, you can still do this. In fact, a sample cheque is a document that contains all the information displayed on a cheque, so you can still do it that way.

If you don’t have a chequebook, there is a simple alternative. Unlike some financial institutions, which allow a sample cheque to be downloaded from their client portal, MotusBank invites its clients to download a document that works the same way, a direct deposit form. This form will contain all the information available on a cheque and anyone who asks you for a sample cheque will accept it. Here are the steps to download and complete the MotusBank direct deposit form:

  • Log in to your MotusBank account at: https://www.motusbank.ca/
  • On the “Account Summary” page, click “Select an Action”, and then select “Direct Deposit Form.”
  • A form with all the necessary information to set up direct deposit will appear. All that’s left to do is save and download or print the PDF. 

Now you know everything you need to in order to find your account information and understand your void cheque as a MotusBank customer! Furthermore, you should now be able to write a cheque.

Arthur Dubois is a personal finance writer at Hardbacon. Since relocating to Canada, he has successfully built his credit score from scratch and begun investing in the stock market. In addition to his work at Hardbacon, Arthur has contributed to Metro newspaper and several other publications