§ 3104 — Negotiable instrument

Pennsylvania § 3104

• Jurisdiction: Pennsylvania
• Title 13: COMMERCIAL CODE
• Ch. 31: GENERAL PROVISIONS AND DEFINITIONS

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(a) Definition of "negotiable instrument".--Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d), "negotiable instrument" means an unconditional promise or order to pay a fixed amount of money, with or without interest or other charges described in the promise or order, if it:

(1) is payable to bearer or to order at the time it is issued or first comes into possession of a holder;

(2) is payable on demand or at a definite time; and

(3) does not state any other undertaking or instruction by the person promising or ordering payment to do any act in addition to the payment of money, but the promise or order may contain:

(i) an undertaking or power to give, maintain or protect collateral to secure payment;

(ii) an authorization or power to the holder to confess judgment or realize on or dispose of collateral;

(iii) a waiver of the benefit of any law intended for the advantage or protection of an obligor;

(iv) a term which specifies the law that governs the promise or order; or

(v) an undertaking to resolve in a specified forum a dispute concerning the promise or order.

(b) Definition of "instrument".--"Instrument" means a negotiable instrument.

(c) Negotiable instrument and check.--An order that meets all of the requirements of subsection (a), except paragraph (1), and otherwise falls within the definition of "check" in subsection (f) is a negotiable instrument and a check.

(d) When promise or order not an instrument.--A promise or order other than a check is not an instrument if, at the time it is issued or first comes into possession of a holder, it contains a conspicuous statement, however expressed, to the effect that the promise or order is not negotiable or is not an instrument governed by this division.

(e) Note and draft.--An instrument is a "note" if it is a promise and is a "draft" if it is an order. If an instrument falls within the definition of both "note" and "draft," a person entitled to enforce the instrument may treat it as either.

(f) Definition of "check".--"Check" means:

(1) a draft, other than a documentary draft, payable on demand and drawn on a bank; or

(2) a cashier's check or teller's check.

An instrument may be a check even though it is described on its face by another term, such as "money order."

(g) Definition of "cashier's check".--"Cashier's check" means a draft with respect to which the drawer and drawee are the same bank or branches of the same bank.

(h) Definition of "teller's check".--"Teller's check" means a draft drawn by a bank:

(1) on another bank; or

(2) payable at or through a bank.

(i) Definition of "traveler's check".--"Traveler's check" means an instrument that:

(1) is payable on demand;

(2) is drawn on or payable at or through a bank;

(3) is designated by the term "traveler's check" or by a substantially similar term; and

(4) requires, as a condition to payment, a countersignature by a person whose specimen signature appears on the instrument.

(j) Definition of "certificate of deposit".--"Certificate of deposit" means an instrument containing an acknowledgment by a bank that a sum of money has been received by the bank and a promise by the bank to repay the sum of money. A certificate of deposit is a note of the bank.

Legislative History

(July 1, 2024, P.L.450, No.41, eff. 60 days) 2024 Amendment.Act 41 amended subsec. (a)(3). See section 1 of Act 41 in the appendix to this title for special provisions relating to findings and declarations. Cross References.Section 3104 is referred to in sections 2103, 3103, 3106, 3115, 4104, 9102 of this title; section 2112 of Title 68 (Real and Personal Property).