In this same thread, I've gotta tell you about what happened to me about 20 years ago with Bank of America. We used BA for our checking and savings accounts. We kept only enough $ in checking to pay our bills and avoid the monthly checking account fee. Suddenly, my checks started bouncing all over town - and at that time the merchants were collecting about $15 EACH for a bounced check fee. I checked and double checked my checking account balance and found I still had money there - was still over the "minimum balance" required to avoid the monthly fee. So I went to BA armed with my accounting. I was treated like S**t and told I had made an error. I said I hadn't and requested a copy of their records of my account. I went over and over each transaction until I finally found they had deducted from my balance a payment of over $1000 to Citibank - TWICE! They said citibank said they had never been credited with the first cancelled check (four months before - and that check had already been paid from my account) so they sent a photocopy, which BA also paid. I was fuming and told BA that they were not to pay money from my account based on a PHOTOCOPY of my check. BA said, oh it happens all the time if the photocopy is being sent by another financial institution. We sorry, we'll credit your account for our nsf fees. But did they credit me for the dozen or so checks that cost me money at local supermarkets, utilities, etc. No.
There was a time when a bank was obligated to cash your order (assuming you had funds on deposit) even if your order was written on a brick, only AFTER verifying your signature and that the check was not post-dated. Those times, I'm afraid, have gone just like the guys that checked your oil and tire pressure at the gas station. This is a better world?