The world is becoming more digital, and younger generations are looking to options such as Apple Pay. Checks are falling out of favor as a way to pay and as a way to be paid. However, many Americans still rely on checks if they don’t have easy access to bank accounts.
Many stores still offer cash checking services in exchange for a fee or percentage of the check. This service allows customers to pay for essentials when they receive government or other types of checks.
So it’s no wonder grocery stores have historically offered this to their customers.
Does Safeway Cash Checks in 2024?
Unfortunately, Safeway does not cash checks. Safeway’s check cashing was previously a service they offered to their customers but was removed around 2013. Safeway no longer mentions anything about cashing checks on their website. When we called multiple Safeway stores, they confirmed that this is not a service they offer.
This inability to cash checks at Safeway may anger some customers who have no other way to pay for their groceries. Without a bank account and without Safeway cashing checks for you, you will need to find alternate means to get your money.
Customers may wonder if this is a policy for personal checks only or if Safeway can still cash government-issued checks.
What Types of Checks Does Safeway Not Cash?
Safeway will not cash any types of checks. Previously they were offering check cashing on government and many printed checks. It was previously only personal or handwritten checks they refused to cash.
Your only requirements previously with printed checks were to provide a valid government-issued ID.
With Safeway not offering check cashing at all, you will need to open a bank account or find other businesses that can cash your check for you.
Where Can You Get Checks Cashed?
If you have a bank account, then your best option is to deposit your check there. Previously there were holds on checks while they were being processed.
However, nowadays, if your account is in good standing, the money from checks you deposit will be instantly available in your account.
The speed at which your funds are available from checks now could be what many customers needed, so they didn’t have to rely on grocery stores to cash their checks.
If you are low on funds and your check will take seven business days to clear, that may have just been too long in the past when you needed food right then.
Without a bank account, you will need to look at businesses that deal primarily in money lending. Moneylenders are more likely to cash checks and continue to do so going forward. However, as always, there will be fees and percentages taken from your check.
Your top options to cash your check are:
- Your bank
- The bank that issued the check
- Some retail or grocery stores, such as Walmart.
- Payday loan stores
- Online services can turn checks into digital currency, such as PayPal.
With many grocery stores still offering to cash checks, customers may be frustrated and wonder why Safeway doesn’t provide this simple service.
Why Doesn’t Safeway Cash Checks?
Safeway has made no official statement on why they don’t cash checks. We can only speculate that checks are not heavily used anymore and have become more trouble than they’re worth to Safeway.
Check fraud is a primary reason not to cash checks or even accept them as forms of payment. In a retail or grocery store, it’s challenging to verify checks efficiently.
With most customers having debit cards and checks not being very common anymore, it seems reasonable for Safeway to remove the service, with other stores following soon.
With Safeway being a major grocery chain and other grocery stores offering to accept checks, there may be confusion if Safeway never offered to check to cash or if they stopped for some reason.
Did Safeway Cash Checks Before?
Safeway offered check cashing up until around 2013. Then, sometime around 2013, they quietly removed any mention of it from their website, and stores stopped offering the service to customers.
Unfortunately, there has been no official reason posted online for why Safeway did this.
If you search online, many websites still state that Safeway does cash checks. It’s unknown if this is because some still offer this service but don’t advertise it or if this information on these websites is outdated.
However, multiple calls to different Safeway stores have confirmed they don’t openly offer it as a service.
You can always walk into Safeway and ask their customer service if they will cash your check. You may get a different response, but that is not guaranteed or recommended.
For example, I walked into my local Safeway for interest’s sake because I needed to go anyway and confirmed that the store wouldn’t cash checks.
Without an official response from Safeway, customers may hold out hope that Safeway will start offering the service again.
Will Safeway Cash Checks in the Future?
Safeway has made no mention of check cashing at all, and it’s only review websites that mention they even did it in the past.
So it’s unlikely that Safeway will start offering the service again when it’s been at least eight years since it was officially removed as a service.
Safeway did offer this service in the past, so it had the infrastructure and knowledge on what was needed.
As nothing has changed, that should all still be available if Safeway decided they wanted to offer check cashing services again.
Can I Cash a Check at Safeway?
You cannot cash your check at Safeway. It is not an officially supported service. You may have personally cashed a check at Safeway before. But, as of 2013, it was removed as something Safeway offered to its customers.
With no check cashing options available at Safeway, you will need to look at other options to cash your check or even look to other grocery stores that still offer this service. For example, Walmart and Kroger both still provide the service and may be a cheaper option than buying items at Safeway.
