You can no longer pay cheques into the Post Office

But it’s becoming very difficult to pay in foreign currency cheques. After two months, I worked out that American companies don’t accept email or letters to arrange electronic transfers but only phone calls. I think that is likely to result in errors….

I run a Post Office. These are the banks that you can still pay cheques into over-the-counter.

HSBC First Direct, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, TSB, Ulster, Bank of Ireland, Barclay, Cahoot, Virgin money group, Co-op, Coutts. In Northern Ireland, you can also pay in to AIB and Danske

You can also pay cash in and and get cash out from most uk banks including Lloyds .

There are no limits to the amount of cheque value that you can pay in but there are limits to cash. Every bank is different, but it’s quite a high amount. There are no charges for these services.

If there are any questions, I would only be too happy to find the answers for you

M0nica

Age doesn't come into it. It is just banks. I wanted to change my addess on a joint account I have with DH and have online access to it. Up until now, he has usually been the one who operated it online.

To do this I have to go to my local branch of the bank. As we are all saying. There is not one in the town I live in. The nearest branch seems to be over 20 miles away. I am new in the area, I do not know my way round. It will be a days work to get myself to an unknown town, find the bank, find a car park, visit it, spend at least 30 minutes at a counter while the clerk tries to find out what they are meant to do and then reverse the journey home.

The procedures would be the same no matter what age the recipient of the cheue. I mean a grandchild with a cheue from a grandparent. I used to shop for a friend who always paid me by cheue.

DH had a problem with his credit card. It couldn't be sorted by phone and he was told to go into a branch.
Luckily we still have a branch here pro tem but it will be closing. The nearest one will be in a city 20+ miles away.

Everything is becoming more and more inconvenient.

M0nica if you have the app on your phone you can pay in your cheque if you take a photo. Most youngsters can do this. Some elderly people haven’t a clue and would have to go to the bank. If your cheque is over a certain value the app won’t take it. I can no longer use my village post office for Lloyds but sounds like I might be able to if I open an account with a different bank.

I also think Lloyds should have informed their customers which they did not.

Age doesn't come into it. It is just banks. I wanted to change my addess on a joint account I have with DH and have online access to it. Up until now, he has usually been the one who operated it online.

To do this I have to go to my local branch of the bank. As we are all saying. There is not one in the town I live in. The nearest branch seems to be over 20 miles away. I am new in the area, I do not know my way round. It will be a days work to get myself to an unknown town, find the bank, find a car park, visit it, spend at least 30 minutes at a counter while the clerk tries to find out what they are meant to do and then reverse the journey home.

The procedures would be the same no matter what age the recipient of the cheue. I mean a grandchild with a cheue from a grandparent. I used to shop for a friend who always paid me by cheue.

lixy

Thanks 25Avalon. Life seems hell bent on getting as complicated as possible doesn’t it, with little thought for the customer.
Do hope your cheque arrives safely.

Every new initiative seems to be making life more so difficult for ordinary people.
Banks, the NHS, obtaining prescriptions etc etc.

theworriedwell

David49

This is about risk a very large transfer between banks could take a long time to reverse and the Post office no longer accept that risk.
My own bank has just closed the local branch and I now need to scan cheques into the app then the intermediary is removed.
Thankfully I don't receive or write many cheques.

I can't remember last time I wrote or received a cheque.

Yes, I received one the other day. It was for such an insignificant amount I nearly shredded it but thought that I wasn't going to let the firm keep it.
Luckily we still have a bank here but not for much longer.

We've lost the bank here 5 years ago, the one in a neighbouring town 3 years ago and the one 6 miles away, this year.

But recently they have opened a banking hub in our town which all the main banks share. there are only certain days where you can discuss overdrafts, mortgages etc with your own bank's rep, but you can pay in cheques & cash to any high street bank account every day,which is a godsend for our business, as to get into the city to do this is probably a 1.5 to 2 hour commitment, and the nearest alternative is 23 miles away.

Hope more banking hubs crop up soon across the country.

I deposited a rare business cheque for £3250 this week at the village post office , into an HSBC business account without any problems.

I haven't seen a cheque for a long time but I needed to transfer money from my late DH account to pay a large bill so turned up at the bank HQ after a long bus ride to the city centre.

First I was asked if I had an appointment.
When I said no I was told there'd be a long wait and did I want a coffee?

About 10 mins later I was invited into a cubicle where a young man (looked about 12) listened to my rather complicated story.
He couldn't deal with it and sent me to my solicitor, which luckily wasn't far away so I did that and he explained the problem but sent me straight back to the bank!

If only my local branch still operated, the helpful team would have dealt with it quickly, I am sure.

Ladyleftfieldlover should you need to pay a large cheque into Lloyds bank you will have to go into your bank. Otherwise trust Royal Mail to deliver it.

Why I thought it was ageist is that the age group with the highest percentage of non mobile app users is probably that age group. Furthermore if you have a physical condition or have stopped driving you may not be able to hop on and off two buses and spend all day getting to your bank. Of course many of us are tech savvy.but I know many elderly who haven’t a clue how to download an app or even take a photo. Why do they make and sell simple phones that only send and receive texts and phone call. Bet they don’t sell many to the young.

Of course it isn't ageist! My 93 year old uncle is tech savy and probably knows more than the 70 year olds of my acquaintance! In fact I only know one elderly person who refuses to use a computer. She is 78 and just won't have anything to do with them. I can remember in the 70s when decimal coinage came in. So many people thought 'old' people wouldn't be able to cope. Of course they did. Banks closing down is a problem but there are always ways of getting round this. Drive, bus, taxi, lift...I can't remember the last time I went in an actual bank.

It's annoying, and poor customer service, but I don't understand why it's ageist?

We are no keen on paying cheches or cash via the post office as twice we have had the payment go missing . One was a cash deposit and one a cheque. We had to ask the person who wrote the check for another one and then months later the lost one was deposited in our account so we had to sort that out . Both times the Post office said it was not their blame.

Thanks 25Avalon. Life seems hell bent on getting as complicated as possible doesn’t it, with little thought for the customer.
Do hope your cheque arrives safely.

lixy

I don’t understand this, and really hope that it isn’t so.

I pay cheques in regularly via the Post Office to the Co-op bank They go, with a paying in slip, into the special envelope. Nowhere on the envelope do I have to say what the value of the cheque is, just how many cheques are enclosed.

If you bank with other banks do you have to declare the value of the cheques?

Hi Lixy you can no longer pay any Lloyds or Bank of Scotland cheques in via the Post Office. Hopefully this will not apply to the Co-op Bank and you will still be able to pay cheques in as usual. Maybe I should open a Co-op Bank account.You don't have to write the amount on the envelope.
My problem was that the cheque was for too large an amount to pay in via the mobile app and can only be paid in at a branch, if you can find one still open, or to put it in an envelope, write on Lloyds' freeppst address and post it in a Royal Mail Postbox. Keep fingets crossed it arrives safely!

Life is even more complicated if you try to pay in an American dollar cheque to a bank. It really isn’t any fun being older and having to keep up with changes.

I don’t understand this, and really hope that it isn’t so.

I pay cheques in regularly via the Post Office to the Co-op bank They go, with a paying in slip, into the special envelope. Nowhere on the envelope do I have to say what the value of the cheque is, just how many cheques are enclosed.

If you bank with other banks do you have to declare the value of the cheques?

Difficult for businesses though?

Jaxjacky

Santander have a limit of £5,000 per day.

I wouldn't mind having a problem of paying in more than £5k a day.

Santander have a limit of £5,000 per day.

25Avalon

You won’t be able to do that David49 if your cheque is above a certain amount. It’s go to branch or post it.

Did they say what the limit is.

David49

This is about risk a very large transfer between banks could take a long time to reverse and the Post office no longer accept that risk.
My own bank has just closed the local branch and I now need to scan cheques into the app then the intermediary is removed.
Thankfully I don't receive or write many cheques.

I can't remember last time I wrote or received a cheque.

You won’t be able to do that David49 if your cheque is above a certain amount. It’s go to branch or post it.

This is about risk a very large transfer between banks could take a long time to reverse and the Post office no longer accept that risk.
My own bank has just closed the local branch and I now need to scan cheques into the app then the intermediary is removed.
Thankfully I don't receive or write many cheques.