# Bank Statement Check Images: What OCR Does with Them

- Author: FastBankConvert (https://fastbankconvert.com)
- Published: 2026-10-17
- Category: Scanned and image statements
- Canonical: https://fastbankconvert.com/blog/bank-statement-check-images

> What happens to bank statement check images during conversion: why the thumbnails are skipped, and how to keep check numbers matched to amounts.
Bank statement check images are the small pictures of paid checks that some banks add after the transaction pages. A statement converter reads the transaction table and skips those pictures, because they hold handwriting and photos, not table rows. The check number and amount still come through from the transaction lines, so you match payees to them afterwards.

## Why do bank statements include check images?

Bank statements include check images because many banks no longer return the paper checks you wrote. They photograph the front and back of each check as it is processed and print reduced copies on extra statement pages, often several to a page, so you still have a record of each payee and signature.

The [Federal Reserve's Check 21 questions and answers](https://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/regcc-faq-check21.htm) describe this practice: banks can capture pictures of the front and back of checks and send them electronically, and some give customers image statements that show multiple pictures of canceled checks per page. The same page notes that when a bank agrees to provide paid checks, it may provide either the original or a substitute check.

On the statement itself, the images usually appear in one of three places:

- **Pages at the end**, after the last transaction page and the summary. This is the most common layout.
- **A separate document**, offered as its own download in online banking.
- **Interleaved pages**, where image pages sit between transaction pages, which is less common and causes the most trouble in conversion.

Each image is small, often a few centimetres wide, and shows the front of the check. Some layouts include the back, with the endorsement, beside or below it.

## Why converters skip check image thumbnails

A converter skips check image thumbnails because they do not contain transaction rows. It is looking for a repeating table of dates, descriptions and amounts. A check picture holds a handwritten payee, a handwritten amount, a signature and a line of bank codes, none of which fits that table.

This is usually what you want. The facts that matter for your books, the check number, the date it cleared and the amount, are already in the transaction table, printed by the bank in clean type. A line such as "CHECK 1044 1,200.00" converts as an ordinary row. The picture adds the payee and the memo, which the transaction line usually lacks, but it adds them in handwriting.

A small amount of text can leak from image pages. The bank often prints the check number, amount and date as a caption under each thumbnail, and an OCR pass can pick those up as stray rows. Watch for a block of extra rows at the end of the converted sheet with no descriptions and amounts that duplicate checks you already have. Delete them, or the check totals will be counted twice.

If a scanned statement's text layer is missing entirely, nothing converts, captions or rows. [Making a scanned PDF searchable before you convert it](/blog/make-scanned-pdf-searchable) covers adding that layer first.

## Can OCR read the amount written on a check image?

OCR can rarely read a handwritten check amount reliably, especially from a statement thumbnail. The image is small and compressed, the amount is handwriting, and the payee line is often cursive. Printed OCR engines are built for type, not pen, so a person reading the image will beat any automatic attempt.

A check carries the amount twice: in figures in a box, and in words on the line below the payee. Under [Uniform Commercial Code section 3-114](https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/3/3-114), words prevail over numbers when the two conflict. Neither is easy for OCR. The figures may be crammed into the box, and the words are cursive more often than not.

The bottom line of a check is different. That line holds the routing number, account number and check number in a special font printed in magnetic ink, designed to be machine-readable. On a statement thumbnail it is tiny, though, and the check number it contains is already on the transaction line.

So treat the images as a reference to look at, not a source to extract from. When you need a payee name for a check, open the image and type it. [What OCR can realistically read in handwritten PDFs](/blog/convert-handwritten-pdf-to-excel) explains the limits in more depth.

## Matching check numbers to amounts after conversion

Matching ties each cleared check on the converted statement to the entry you made when you wrote it, usually a check register or a list in your accounting app. The check number is the key that joins them. One lookup formula shows which checks cleared, which have not, and which cleared for a different amount.

### A worked example

The figures below are an example. Converted statement rows sit in a sheet called Statement:

| Check number | Date cleared | Amount |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1041 | 03/04 | 250.00 |
| 1042 | 03/06 | 86.40 |
| 1044 | 03/11 | 1,200.00 |
| 1045 | 03/18 | 47.15 |
| 1046 | 03/25 | 310.00 |

Your register, in a sheet called Register, lists check number, payee and amount:

| Check number | Payee | Amount |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1041 | Example Landscaping | 250.00 |
| 1042 | City Water | 86.40 |
| 1043 | School fundraiser | 35.00 |
| 1044 | Example Contractor | 1,250.00 |
| 1045 | Example Dental | 47.15 |
| 1046 | Example Rent Co | 310.00 |

In Statement, add a payee column and a difference column:

```
D2: =XLOOKUP(A2, Register!A:A, Register!B:B, "not in register")
E2: =C2 - XLOOKUP(A2, Register!A:A, Register!C:C, 0)
```

Fill both down. Every row returns a payee. Check 1044 shows a difference of −50.00, so the bank paid 1,200.00 where the register says 1,250.00. Open that check's image: either the register entry is wrong or the check was written for a different amount. Check 1043 never appears on the statement, which means it has not cleared yet. A reverse lookup from the register finds it.

### Watch the check number column

Check numbers convert as numbers, so a leading zero can vanish and "001044" becomes 1044. That breaks the lookup if the register keeps the zeros. Store both columns as text, or both as numbers, but not one of each.

On a scanned statement, check numbers can also be misread like any digit. A check number that matches nothing in the register, while the amount matches an unmatched entry, is almost always a misread digit.

### Checks that never clear

A check that stays unmatched for several months deserves a decision. It may have been lost, voided or never cashed. Mark it in the register rather than deleting it, so the next month's match does not flag it again as new, and so the register still explains every number in the sequence.

## Check image pages mixed into the transaction table

Mixed-in check image pages are the hardest layout to convert. When image pages sit between transaction pages, the converter has to step over them and carry the table on afterwards. If it does not, rows before and after the images can be split into two tables, or caption text can land in the middle of the list.

Look for these signs in the converted sheet:

- A gap or repeated header in the middle of the transactions.
- Rows with only a number and an amount, no description, in the middle of the month.
- A date sequence that jumps forward, then back, around the point where the images sat.

That last sign overlaps with date errors from OCR itself, which have their own causes and fixes, set out in [how OCR misreads dates on bank statements](/blog/ocr-misread-dates-on-bank-statements).

The simplest fix happens before conversion. If you only need the transactions, save a copy of the PDF without the image pages, using the "extract pages" or "delete pages" option in a PDF editor. The transaction table then runs continuously, and the converted sheet has no stray rows to clean.

Use the running balance as a final check. If the balance on the last transaction row matches the closing balance on the summary, no transaction was lost around the image pages. FastBankConvert is built to make that check for you, flagging a statement whose balances do not add up before download, and it is getting ready to open; [Get started](/get-started) adds you to the list.

## Account numbers and signatures in check image pages

Check image pages carry more sensitive detail than the transaction pages. Each check shows your full account number and routing number in the bottom line, your signature, and often your address. The transaction pages usually mask the account number, so the image pages are the part of the statement most worth protecting.

Think about this before you send a statement anywhere. If the person or tool only needs the transactions, remove the image pages first, as described above. That cuts out signatures and full account numbers in one step.

When you upload a statement to an online converter, ask what happens to the file. FastBankConvert's homepage says uploads are encrypted in transit and trial files are deleted after download. Encryption in transit protects the file on its way, while encryption at rest protects it while stored, and [how encryption at rest works for a PDF converter](/blog/pdf-converter-encryption-at-rest) explains the difference and what to ask.

If you keep converted files, keep the images separately. A spreadsheet of transactions with payees typed in is enough for most bookkeeping, and the original statement PDF, images included, can stay in your bank's archive or a secure folder.