Something has gotta fund it all, right? Certain activities like cooking, attending jury duty or checking snail mail tend to be hard when you're not there. But yes, it is possible for someone else to deposit checks for you.
(Though, many of the mail services we found will deposit checks for an extra fee.)
It's a simple process that has been around for decades, but in the age of online banking, it seems quite a few people might have forgotten how to do it the old-school way.
In order to do this, get the check sent to someone trustworthy. Then in the endorsement slot, write:
FDO [account name holder], [account number]
Then have that person go to the bank, head to the teller and deposit it. This does require someone who is willing to physically go into a bank on your behalf.
Still, it might be a better proposition than trying to align a check's arrival with a constantly moving travel schedule. FDO essentially stands for deposit only. It is worth dotting the i's and crossing the t's on things like this: For example, Chase is nearly nonexistent in Boston, so it rules out people there that could help.
There is also some evidence an endorsement may not be needed, especially, if the payee matches the name on the account.
Now, if you're trying to deposit a check made out to someone else into your account without permission, that's a different story....
Here's further "proof" from the internet.
Our property manager deposits checks into our account made out to our name all the time. I don't understand why there would be a problem. We are never present when the property manager makes the deposits into our account. Have deposited my kids checks into their accounts without them present and without any endorsement as well. Have never had a problem.
On the other hand, if you want to deposit a check made out to someone else into YOUR account, you need an endorsement.
