William Lipovsky
Supermarkets are not banks, but some stores do offer customers the convenience of cashing a check during your store visit.
Food Lion is among a number of national grocery stores that allow customers to cash checks. The store cashes personal and payroll checks as well as government, travelers, and rebate checks.
We detail the requirements, fees, and other policy details below.
Identification Requirements
Similar to banks, Food Lion requires you to show an acceptable form of identification before you can cash a check at one of its stores.
Acceptable forms of ID include:[1]
- U.S. or U.S. territory driver’s License or state-issued ID
- U.S. or U.S. territory military ID
- Native American Tribal photo ID
- U.S. passport (can be used when cashing payroll checks, but not personal checks)
Note: You do not need a Food Lion shopping card to cash checks at the store.
Personal Check Policy
Food Lion cashes personal checks, whether written to you by another party or written by you to pay for groceries.
Be aware that the store uses a third-party check verification system, so Food Lion employees don’t have any control over whether or not your personal check is verified or rejected.
If your personal check is rejected, either a cashier or store customer service representative will provide you with the contact information for the third-party service so you can discuss the reason the check was rejected.[1]
Checks Written for Groceries
At Food Lion, you can write a personal check for groceries up to $50 over the total cost of your grocery purchase. For example, if your grocery total is $37, you can write a check for $87, if you desire.
Your check covers your groceries, and the cashier hands you $50 in cash.
If you need more money than this, you’ll need to come back to the store and go through the shopping and check-writing process again. Make your check payable to Food Lion.[1]
There are no fees for personal checks used in the purchase of groceries. Additionally, you cannot receive cash without buying groceries.
Checks Written to You
Food Lion does not cash personal checks written to you by a third party. You can only use personal checks associated with your own checking account.
Be aware that your personal check must clear the third-party electronic verification system. This database pulls up a record for the account associated with the check, and any unpaid checks (bounced checks) or fees trigger an automatic decline.
If your checking account has experienced previous payment difficulties, your check may be declined.[2][1]
Payroll Check Policy
Food Lion cashes payroll checks up to $1,000 per check — and not a penny more. That’s good news if you plan on stopping by the store after work to pick up a few things on payday.
There are some things you should be aware of when taking a payroll check to your local Food Lion:[1]
- Real signature required. Payroll checks must be signed by an authorized company representative. This signature must be handwritten in person, a stamped handwritten signature, or a handwritten signature copied by computer and printed on the check. Not valid: Computer font-generated signatures.
- No handwritten payroll checks. Some small companies issue handwritten payroll checks to employees. You won’t be able to cash these checks at the store, and fraud prevention is the likely reason. Luckily, there are plenty of options where you can cash a handwritten check.
- Check cashing fees. There are nominal fees for cashing payroll checks, and these fees vary by store location. You can contact your local store to inquire about fees for cashing payroll checks.
Other Check Types
In addition to personal and payroll checks, Food Lion will cash the following checks:[1]
- U.S. government or state-issued tax refund checks up to $1,000 (Proper ID required)
- U.S. Traveler’s Checks up to $499.99
- Rebate checks
Checks Food Lion Will Not Cash
Food Lion doesn’t cash all check types. There are restrictions to keep in mind before cashing a check at Food Lion.[1][2]
Ineligible checks include:
- Altered checks
- Checks filled out in pencil
- Checks from juveniles without acceptable forms of ID
- Checks that must be verified by phone
- Counter checks
- Credit card checks
- Foreign country-issued traveler’s checks
- Handwritten payroll checks
- Insurance drafts
- Money orders
- Personal checks by third parties (suggested article: where to cash third party checks)
- Third-party personal checks (suggested article: where to cash third party checks)
- Two-party checks (suggested article: where to cash two-party checks)
Other Places to Cash Checks
If Food Lion doesn’t work for you for any reason, there are lots of other places to cash a check. Most often, people will head to their own bank. Your own bank will have the least restrictions, and will usually be free.
If you don’t have a bank account or can’t get to your bank, there are many other grocery stores that cash checks, usually for a reasonable fee.
If for some reason you can’t find a grocery store that will cash your check, there are some banks that will cash checks for non-customers for a fee. As a last resort, head to a check cashing or payday loan store. They usually have the fewest restrictions on the type of checks they’ll cash, but they also have the highest fees.
