Are Email Checks Secure? Breaking Down the Myths

For many businesses, the idea of emailing a check still feels a little off. You hear “email” and think of phishing scams or inbox clutter, not secure payments. Yet, email checks have quietly become one of the fastest-growing tools for businesses that need to send money quickly, track delivery, and cut payment costs.

So, what’s stopping more companies from making the switch? Mostly myths. Old assumptions about digital fraud, data leaks, or tech complexity still linger, even when the facts say otherwise.
In this guide, you’ll learn how email checks work, what makes them safe (sometimes safer than traditional methods), and why companies are rethinking how they define secure check delivery.

What Are Email Checks?

An email check is a digitally issued check that contains all the usual info, such as payee name, routing number, account number, and amount, but instead of being printed and mailed, it’s delivered through a secure email link. The recipient can print it and deposit it like a standard check or deposit it electronically using a mobile banking app.

There’s no portal to sign into, banking credentials to enter, or software to install. It works just like a paper check, only faster, cheaper, and trackable.

Misconceptions Fuel Skepticism

Skepticism around email-based payments usually boils down to one word: fraud. Many companies worry that sending financial data through email opens the door to cyberattacks or accidental leaks. Others assume that anything digital must be more vulnerable than something they can touch and file.

However, that assumption doesn’t hold up. In reality, paper checks are far more vulnerable. According to the 2025 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey Report, 63% of businesses that still use paper checks experience some form of check fraud. That includes theft, forgery, alteration, and mailbox interception. Once a paper check leaves your office, you have no visibility into what happens to it until it clears or bounces.

Email checks, by contrast, leave a full trail. They are tracked from the moment they’re sent to the moment they’re opened and cashed. Because they’re delivered through encrypted, expiring links, they don’t expose sensitive data through the email itself. This makes the payment traceable and locked down, rather than vulnerable and unmonitored.

How Email Check Security Works

To understand why email checks are considered secure, it helps to look under the hood. Here’s what happens when you use CheckIssuing to send one.

Tokenized, Expiring Delivery Links

The check isn’t attached to the email. Instead, the recipient gets a tokenized link that grants access to the digital check for a limited time. If the link isn’t opened within the allowed window, it expires. This eliminates risk from misdirected or forwarded emails.

End-to-End Encryption

From the moment a check is generated to the moment the recipient accesses it, every transmission is protected with 128-bit SSL encryption, the same level of protection used by online banking platforms. The link itself is encrypted and SOC-audited to ensure consistent security across the system.

No Bank Info Required From Recipient

Because recipients don’t need to provide any account details to receive their payment, email checks eliminate the most common phishing point. There’s no portal login or credential capture risk, just a one-way check sent directly to the inbox.

Positive Pay Integration

For businesses concerned about check fraud, CheckIssuing includes Positive Pay. This feature matches every issued check against a list of approved transactions and flags any attempts to alter the amount, date, or payee information before processing.

Real-Time Tracking

One of the most useful layers of protection is visibility. With email checks, senders can see exactly when a check was delivered, opened, and downloaded. If something looks suspicious or if the recipient claims they didn’t receive it, you have a full audit trail to reference.

Why Paper Checks Fall Short

If you still think a paper check is safer because it’s “offline,” let’s compare.

Interception risk: Anyone who steals a mailed check has access to your full routing and account number.
Forgery risk: Paper checks can be altered, scanned, reprinted, or duplicated with basic tools.
Zero visibility: Once it’s in the mail, you have no control unless the recipient tells you what happened.
Delayed delivery: Checks can take days or even weeks to arrive and clear.

Meanwhile, the cost per paper check after accounting for labor, materials, and postage can range from $4 to $20 per transaction. With email checks, those costs drop dramatically.

Who Email Checks Work Best For

You don’t need to scrap your current setup to make this work. If you already use QuickBooks or something similar, CheckIssuing can fit right in. It runs in the cloud, handles batch payments, and connects through an API if needed.

There are a few spots where email checks just make life easier:

Law firms: Settlement payouts get sent fast, and you can see when they’re received.
Healthcare offices: Refunds don’t sit in a drawer waiting for envelopes.
Class action teams: Thousands of payments? It’s all trackable, no chaos.
Small businesses: Skip the printing, avoid hiring someone just for mailing.

Basically, if your business handles money and doesn’t want the lag or liability that comes with paper, this fits. You’re not changing everything. Just upgrading one piece that slows you down.

Why Email Checks Are the Future of Secure Payments

Security isn’t only about software. It’s also about knowing what’s happening, such as who got paid, when, how long it took, and if anything went wrong.

With email checks, there’s no guessing. You can see the whole trail, start to finish. Lost envelopes aren’t your problem anymore.

This isn’t “emailing a check” the way it sounds. You’re sending a link, not a file. Behind that link is a locked-down system that keeps every payment clean, fast, and traceable.

Are You Ready to Make the Switch?

CheckIssuing offers a secure check delivery system built for modern finance teams. With encrypted links, real-time tracking, and seamless integration, you can send email checks with the speed of a digital payment and the control of a traditional one.