Receiving a foreign cheque

Skull · 5 Nov 2007 at 21:00

If someone in europe was to post me a cheque for say €500, would i be able to pay it into my bank? Is it possible to write out a £ sign on the cheque instead of € and do it like that?

InvaderGIR · 5 Nov 2007 at 21:02

The bank will just put the equivalent amount of £ in there as the Euros would amount to.

InvG

Skull · 5 Nov 2007 at 23:05

bump?

Brennan · 5 Nov 2007 at 23:10

You can just pay it into your account with out much trouble. You will get a shocking rate , probably around 1.5100. Charges will vary as well, from a couple of quid to £50, best check with your bank.

You can deface your cheque, however this will probably come with a fee around £15.

Your best option is to received an electronic transfer into your account (SWIFT, MT103, Tipernet or simular) The rate would be better, around 1.4500, but they maybe be a received charge, could be a flat fee, around £5 or a percentage. Best phone your bank and just ask.

Dano · 5 Nov 2007 at 23:11

InvaderGIR said:
The bank will just put the equivalent amount of £ in there as the Euros would amount to.

InvG

For Euros probably but after the grief I had with a $USD cheque I'd double check.

beh · 5 Nov 2007 at 23:19

A couple years back I enquired at NatWest how I'd go about paying in a USD cheque and it seemed pretty archaic. iirc they said it involved sending it off somewhere and possibly waiting ~30days for it to clear, also weren't able to tell me the exchange rate that would be used. Luckily I was able to get the cheque in GBP instead.

Brennan said:
Best phone your bank and just ask.

Definitely.

GarethDW · 6 Nov 2007 at 00:24

Skull said:
If someone in europe was to post me a cheque for say €500, would i be able to pay it into my bank? Is it possible to write out a £ sign on the cheque instead of € and do it like that?

Depends on your bank / building society, but usually they'll have something in place to allow you to pay the cheque into your account.

I'm with Nationwide, and their website has the following info on this...

https://nationwide.custhelp.com/cgi...90ZXh0PWZvcmVpZ24gY2hlcXVlJnBfcGFnZT0x&p_li=1

Nationwide said:
If a cheque or dividend payment is in a foreign currency, we can arrange to clear them and obtain the proceeds for you. A range of fees may be payable, depending on the type of cheque received but we will choose one of two methods to convert it into sterling, Collection or Negotiation.

Collection takes place where you or we require confirmation that the cheque has been paid. It often involves larger amounts and can take up to 8 weeks, sometimes longer, before we are able to credit your account with the proceeds. The fee for this is £20.00

Negotiation usually takes 5 working days and we credit your account prior to receiving confirmation that the cheque has been paid. In the event that the payment is not paid, we will debit your account with the amount of the original credit and notify you of this, the same day. Exchange rates will apply if the cheque is drawn in a foreign currency which may affect the amount debited from the account if the cheque is returned unpaid. The fee for this is £12.00

In both cases you may be subject to further charges from the foreign bank in processing the cheque. Charges may apply regardless of whether the cheque is paid or returned. Any agent bank required to convert the funds into sterling will use the applicable exchange rate on the day that they receive the currency. We will always write however, to confirm which option has been used and the exchange rate that will apply.

Not 100% sure if you were being serious with your 2nd question, but you can't simply cross out the € and write £ instead.

stoofa · 6 Nov 2007 at 03:05

A friend of mine ended up losing out on a fair amount of cash when he accepted cheques in a foreign currency here in the UK.
Once all of the charges were made and the lowest possible exchange rate - well he vowed never again!
The cheques days are thankfully numbered - many retailers don't take them any more.
Doing bank transfers are by far the easiest method of getting money from abroad - just get your SWIFT number.

As said above with regards your second question - I too wasn't sure if you were being serious or not

No, you can't just cross out one currency symbol on a cheque and write another one.

hp7909 · 6 Nov 2007 at 03:46

Think de-facing a cheque that's not yours amounts to fraud :confused:

Foreign (amount) cheques, as mentioned, take quite sometime to clear & the amount turns out to be less than what calculated or agreed.

Ask him/her to send a bankers cheque/draft instead. This comes in your account/country currency (meaning you don't loose out on exchange, etc) & takes a shorter time to clear because drawn on a local bank.

2blue4u · 6 Nov 2007 at 08:49

When I lived in Germany we used 'Eurocheques' (this was long before the Euro came along) on which it was necessary to write the currency. The cheque could be made out in almost any European currency - including GBP. I see no reason why the system has changed so I would imagine that the cheque could be made payable in GBP.