Thousands of motor vehicle and driver licensing transactions are submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) every day. With each transaction, there is usually a payment in the form of a check or money order. If that check or money order cannot be deposited, PennDOT loses both time and money.

Before you complete any transaction that requires a fee, make sure the check or money order your customer gives you is acceptable for deposit. To be deposited, all payments must:

• Contain a valid payee – This is the party to whom the money is to be paid. The payee endorses the back of the payment. For payments to PennDOT, the payee should be “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” “PA Department of Transportation,” or “PennDOT.” Both “Bureau of Driver Licensing” and “Bureau of Motor Vehicles” are acceptable.
• Contain a valid date – PennDOT will decline payments that are future dated (also known as postdated) or not dated in the last 90 calendar days.
• Show numeric amounts that agree with written amounts – Amount areas must be completed. A blank amount area indicates a zero amount. Also, when the payment’s numeric amount and the narrative, written amount do not agree, the bank deposits the amount it reads in the narrative, written format. This may not be the actual amount due.
• Contain proper signature – PennDOT policy is to require a signature on the payment’s signature line.
• Be payable at a U.S. bank or in U.S. dollars – The most common issues are with Canadian banks and currency. If the bank has a Canadian address, do not accept the payment.

Items that do not meet all of these requirements must be returned to the originator for replacement.