1) An order cheque – the most common form in the US – is payable only to the named payee or his or her indorsee, as it usually contains the language "Pay to the order of (name)."
2) A bearer cheque is payable to anyone who is in possession of the document: this would be the case if the cheque does not state a payee, or is payable to "bearer" or to "cash" or "to the order of cash", or if the cheque is payable to someone who is not a person or legal entity, i.e. if the payee line is marked "Happy Birthday".

In the United States, the terminology for a cheque varies with the type of financial institution on which it is drawn. In the case of a savings and loan association it is a negotiable order of withdrawal; if a credit union it would be a share draft. Cheques as such are associated with chartered commercial banks, but under Article 3, and thus in common usage, cheque is understood to mean any or all of these negotiable instruments.

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