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The following snippet is part of a business agreement. I don't understand the meaning of 'five thousand and no/100 dollars (5,000.00 USD)'.

For A's responsibilities and services under this Agreement, Investor shall pay B a fee in the amount of Five Thousand and No/100 Dollars ($5,000.00 USD) (the "Fee") on the Effective Date.

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In the United States, when writing a check, it's customary to write and 00/100 or and no/100 or and xx/100 before "dollars" to indicate that no cents are to be added beyond the indicated number of dollars. Sometimes people also follow this custom when writing a contract. The "/100" refers to cents, since there are 100 cents in a dollar. Sometimes people write and no cents after the word "dollars", or the word Exactly before the (verbal) number of dollars.

The purpose of writing out the number of dollars in words, in addition to writing out the number in numerals, is to make it difficult for one party or an accidental mark to modify the number after the check or contract has been signed. Often one numeral can be changed into another by adding a stroke or two with a pen; it's much harder to modify spelled-out words without being detected. Similarly, explicitly writing that there are no additional cents prevents the recipient of the check from increasing the amount by adding "and 99 cents" after the word "dollars".

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    +1 The part "$5,000.00 USD" looks a little odd to me, personally. I think I'd expect it to be "US$5,000.00" or "$5,000.00 US" or "USD 5,000.00" or "5,000.00 USD". (The OP didn't ask about this anyway, though.)
    – Damkerng T.
    Oct 9, 2015 at 14:41
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    For completeness, I've also seen "and xx/100" instead of "00" or "no".
    – Dan Getz
    Oct 9, 2015 at 17:21
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    +1 I'd just add that writing it out protects not just against fraud but also against mistakes. If you just wrote numerals, stray marks or spots on the paper could radically change the number -- like a stray spot of ink could make three thousand dollars look like thirty dollars and zero cents. And someone might just make a typing error, accidentally adding or omitting a digit, etc.
    – Jay
    Oct 9, 2015 at 17:54
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    @Jay Amazingly, I'd never thought of that! When I was a little kid, someone explained it to me as a way to prevent fraud, and I never thought about it again. I'll add something about preventing mistakes.
    – Ben Kovitz
    Oct 9, 2015 at 18:02
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    @DamkerngT. I agree. I think it should be one of the following: "USD 5,000,000", "$5,000,000 US", or just "$5,000,000" with the US part being confirmed somewhere else.
    – Todd Wilcox
    Oct 9, 2015 at 20:24
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No/100 means there is no cent in the amount and Five Thousand and No/100 Dollars means it is EXACTLY $5,000.

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