OPINION AND CONSENT OF DORSEY & WHITNEY LLP

Exhibit 5.1

[LETTERHEAD OF DORSEY & WHITNEY LLP]

April 30, 2003

Deluxe Corporation
3680 Victoria Street North
Shoreview, Minnesota 55126-2966

Re: Registration Statement on Form S-3

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We have acted as counsel to Deluxe Corporation, a Minnesota corporation
(the "Company"), in connection with a Registration Statement on Form S-3 (the
"Registration Statement") relating to the proposed sale from time to time of
debt securities of the Company in one or more series for an aggregate initial
offering price of up to $500,000,000 (the "Debt Securities") pursuant to an
Indenture dated as of April 30, 2003 (the "Indenture"), by and between the
Company and Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota, N.A., as Trustee (the "Trustee").

We have examined such documents, including resolutions of the Board of
Directors of the Company, adopted on April 29, 2003 (the "Resolutions"), and
have reviewed such questions of law as we have considered necessary and
appropriate for the purposes of our opinion set forth below. In rendering our
opinion, we have assumed the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as
originals, the genuineness of all signatures and the conformity to authentic
originals of all documents submitted to us as copies. We have also assumed the
legal capacity for all purposes relevant hereto of all natural persons and, with
respect to all parties to agreements or instruments relevant hereto other than
the Company, that such parties had the requisite power and authority (corporate
or otherwise) to execute, deliver and perform such agreements or instruments,
that such agreements or instruments have been duly authorized by all requisite
action (corporate or otherwise), executed and delivered by such parties and that
such agreements or instruments are the valid, binding and enforceable
obligations of such parties. As to questions of fact material to our opinion, we
have relied upon certificates of officers of the Company and of public
officials.

Based on the foregoing, we are of the opinion that, when the issuance of a
series of Debt Securities has been authorized by the finance committee of the
Board of Directors and the specific terms of that series of Debt Securities have
been specified in a supplemental indenture or


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Deluxe Corporation
April 30, 2003
Page 2

an officer's certificate, which has been executed and delivered to the Trustee
by an authorized officer of the Company in accordance with the terms of the
Indenture, such series of the Debt Securities will have been duly authorized by
all requisite corporate action and, when executed by the Company and
authenticated by the Trustee as specified in the Indenture and delivered against
payment therefor in the manner described in the Registration Statement, will
constitute valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable in
accordance with the terms of such series.

Our opinion set forth above is subject to the following qualifications and
exceptions:

(a) Our opinion is subject to the effect of any applicable
bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other similar law of
general application affecting creditors' rights.

(b) Our opinion is subject to the effects of general principles of
equity, including (without limitation) concepts of materiality,
reasonableness, good faith and fair dealing, and other similar doctrines
affecting the enforceability of agreements generally (regardless of whether
considered in a proceeding in equity or at law).

(c) Minnesota Statutes Section 290.371, Subd. 4, provides that any
corporation required to file a Notice of Business Activities Report does
not have a cause of action upon which it may bring suit under Minnesota law
unless the corporation has filed a Notice of Business Activities Report and
provides that the use of the courts of the State of Minnesota for all
contracts executed and all causes of action that arose before the end of
any period for which a corporation failed to file a required report is
precluded. Insofar as our opinion may relate to the valid, binding and
enforceable character of any agreement under Minnesota law or in a
Minnesota court, we have assumed that any party seeking to enforce such
agreement has at all times been, and will continue at all times to be,
exempt from the requirement of filing a Notice of Business Activities
Report or, if not exempt, has duly filed, and will continue to duly file,
all Notice of Business Activities Reports.

(d) In rendering our opinion set forth above, we have assumed that,
at the time of the authentication and delivery of a series of Debt
Securities, (i) the Resolutions will not have been modified or rescinded,
(ii) there will not have occurred any change in the law affecting the
authorization, execution, delivery, validity or enforceability of the Debt
Securities, (iii) the Registration Statement will have been declared
effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission and will continue to be
effective, (iv) the Indenture and any supplement thereto relating that
series of Debt Securities shall have been qualified under the Trust
Indenture Act of 1939, as amended (the "Trust Indenture Act"), and will
continue to be qualified, (v) the Debt Securities of such series will have
been


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Deluxe Corporation
April 30, 2003
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offered and sold pursuant to the terms described in the Registration
Statement and in compliance with the Securities Act, the Trust Indenture
Act and any applicable state securities laws, and (vi) none of the
particular terms of a series of Debt Securities will violate any applicable
law and neither the issuance and sale thereof nor the compliance by the
Company with the terms thereof will result in a violation of any agreement
or instrument then binding upon the Company or any order of any court or
governmental body having jurisdiction over the Company.

(e) As of the date of this opinion, a judgment for money in an action
based on a Debt Security denominated in a foreign currency or currency unit
in a federal or state court in the United States ordinarily would be
enforced in the United States only in United States dollars. The date used
to determine the rate of conversion into United States dollars of the
foreign currency or currency unit in which a particular Debt Security is
denominated will depend upon various factors, including which court renders
the judgment.

(f) To the extent that the obligations of the Company under the
Indenture may be dependent upon such matters, we assume for purposes of
this opinion that the Trustee is duly qualified to engage in the activities
contemplated by the Indenture; and that the Trustee is in compliance,
generally and with respect to acting as a trustee under the Indenture, with
all applicable laws and regulations.

Our opinion expressed above is limited to the laws of the State of
Minnesota and the federal laws of the United States of America. The Indenture
states that it is governed by New York law. We have not examined the question of
what law would govern the interpretation or enforcement of the Indenture and our
opinion is based on the assumption, for purposes hereof, that the internal laws
of the State of Minnesota and the federal laws of the United States of America
would govern the Indenture and the transactions contemplated thereby.


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Deluxe Corporation
April 30, 2003
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We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the
Registration Statement, and to the reference to our firm under the caption
"Legal Matters" in the Prospectus constituting part of the Registration
Statement.


Very truly yours,

/s/ Dorsey & Whitney LLP

DLS