The point of a voided check is to prevent an issue in case you make a mistake manually recording your checking and routing numbers. It’s just an insurance policy- there’s really no reason not to do it.
It’s the easiest way to collect this info from most people. Getting a voided check will pass the info from people who don’t know the account number and routing number.
So it’s a good, real requirement because it works more frequently than any other alternatives.
at least photoshop works and I don't have to go get a real check or order checkbooks
you know what works even better though? copy and paste. banking and technology illiterate wage slaves aren't the only ones that wind up with employment on occassion. payroll companies should offer multiple ways to get this done.
I worked an a site that did lots of ach transactions.
We had so many support tickets and errors from people making errors with entering routing and account numbers. Like 20% of all new payees enters bounced back or went to the wrong place. This worked out because new payees were rare since people typically pay the same people over and over.
I think HR does the cancelled check thing because the risk of error is so great and consequential. If people’s paycheck fails, that’s bad.
Walking people through cutting and pasting is harder than “give me a check.”