Foreign cheques and UK bank accounts

Why do they make life more difficult!!

Many banks won't accept foreign cheques now.
If the cheque was from a family member or someone she knows well, could she (or you) ask them to transfer the money through something like Western Union instead and destroy the cheque?

I use WISE for foreign transfers as the rate of exchange and fees are better than banks.

Ask your bank. Few if any European banks accept or issue cheques any longer, but it seems quite impossible to get this into the heads of Americans, be they private citizens, businesses or banks.

If your bank will provide you with an e-mail stating that they do not accept cheques any longer, and that any monies transfered to any European country must sent by wire transfer, you could forward it to the bank that issued the cheque.

Don't hold your breath, though, as a friend of mine has tried unsuccessfully for three months now to get an American firm of solicitors to accept this.

Can your friend not pay the cheque into her bank account, and take the money out later, that must still be possible?

We had this problem years ago with dividends from US shares. The bank charged more than the cheque was worth. In the end we gave up and eventually the US bank noticed we hadn’t cashed any cheques so sent us 1 large cheque which we deposited at great cost into our current account.

Casdon

Can your friend not pay the cheque into her bank account, and take the money out later, that must still be possible?

Many banks are refusing to accept foreign cheques now.
I think Santander may be one which does but it takes weeks to clear.

It’s impossible to get First Direct, Barclays, Nat West, Halifax to accept an American cheque.
The annuity company sent me a form stating Direct deposit requests can only be accepted for U.S. bank accounts
So am truly stuck.

My husband has always posted sterling cheques to our grandsons in the Republic of Ireland, but their dad has now told us that the Irish banks won't accept the cheques any more.

I don't know what the reasoning is.

We did a direct bank transfer yesterday instead. It was so much nicer to just tuck a cheque into a birthday card!

ronib

It’s impossible to get First Direct, Barclays, Nat West, Halifax to accept an American cheque.
The annuity company sent me a form stating Direct deposit requests can only be accepted for U.S. bank accounts
So am truly stuck.

Nat West does accept foreign cheques according to their website, but they must be processed in-branch or via post, rather than through the mobile app. These cheques, which must be in foreign currency or drawn on foreign banks, typically take up to 12 weeks to clear. Fees apply based on the cheque value, and they can be returned unpaid for up to 7 years due to fraud.
NatWest
I just checked because I’ve got a NatWest account, and I still get a share dividend annually as a cheque, which I’ve always taken to the bank and paid in without an issue.

Just to add, my dividend cheque is in Australian dollars, not sure if that makes a difference?

I intended to open a NatWest savings account as PoA and phoned to be told yes I could do this but I needed an appointment to open an account. But … when I phoned for the appointment, I was told no I could not put an American cheque in so that was a waste of my time!

It’s very difficult to communicate with the American annuity company. I don’t think they understand the problem.

Do you mean you wanted to open a savings account with just the American cheque as the deposit, in which case I can understand why they would say no because of the clearance time and risk of fraud. If you wanted to open a savings account and pay the cheque, after other money, into it, they should not refuse that?

I could easily deposit UK pounds in to open an account but I was refused an appointment when I said that an American cheque needed to be deposited too.

That’s really strange, as it definitely says you can on their website. It might be worth going back to them?

Here are the instructions.

Key Details for Depositing Foreign Cheques:

Method: You must take the cheque to a NatWest branch or post it with a paying-in slip to: NatWest NICPU, PO Box 41, The Drapery, Northampton, NN1 2EY.

Processing Time: It can take up to 12 weeks for the foreign cheque to be paid, as it involves a "collection" process with the foreign bank.

Fees & Rates: NatWest applies fees for processing foreign cheques, and exchange rates apply, which means you could receive less than the face value.

Currencies: NatWest accepts up to 40 different currencies.
NatWest

It’s worth calculating with them what the processing fee would be too, as depending on the amount of the cheque it might not be. That’s happened to me a couple of times with my share dividend.

PayPal?
Or... try the American bank JP Morgan which advertises in the UK for savings and investments. It has a skyscraper in London.

I don’t think 68 dollars monthly will interest J P Morgan? In a moment of courage or stupidity, I emailed the Financial Services Ombudsman but not feeling very optimistic….

ronib

I don’t think 68 dollars monthly will interest J P Morgan? In a moment of courage or stupidity, I emailed the Financial Services Ombudsman but not feeling very optimistic….

So this will happen every month?

I really think the American company should be more helpful and pay this by BACS to this person. It would be easier for them too!

Why do some people make things do difficult? DH has had a problem with our local bank recently, being given the wrong information by a member of staff, causing nearly three weeks of problems. When he went in today and saw someone else, she sorted it all out in two minutes.

Definitely Allira, after the transaction fee, the amount of money received monthly is going to be negligible otherwise. It’s easier said than done to get them to change though I suspect.

ronib

I don’t think 68 dollars monthly will interest J P Morgan? In a moment of courage or stupidity, I emailed the Financial Services Ombudsman but not feeling very optimistic….

I wouldn't give up as a matter of principle.

Recently a firm sent me a cheque for under £3 - was it worth a trek to the bank to pay it in? As we still have a bank here, yes, it was, I'd rather have that small mount (and give it to charity!) than let the firm benefit.

I am beginning to wonder if this is an American policy to stop dollars going out of the country to a pensioner in this case?

I have emailed my mp who is yet to reply. I have spent some time and energy catching up with social services who may not have covered all expenses for disability so hopefully some money appears. Also cancelled three charitable donations a month! Harder to cancel Inland Revenue 🥴

America has always been behind us in personal banking I think.
It was well behind in 1980 and still is I feel.
Even my 101 year old mother-in-law had stopped writing cheques by 2019...

Can you find a North American based middleman? A family member or friend.

If you have a US-registered PayPal account they have a cash a cheque feature.
​You just take a photo of the cheque and upload it..
It bypasses the UK banking system entirely.
​I haven't used it but know it exists.

...of course if this is to do with a probate issue I'd be careful about how money is moved.

Not probate

The banks stopped maintaining systems for processing foreign cheques because they were handling so few it wasn't worthwhile. They were losing money on it.

I have done what Not spaghetti suggests and had a kind friend in the US cash a cheque for me. I sent the cheque over to him and he photographed it. When the money landed in his account he sent it to me via PayPal.