Paying in USD cheque to UK bank - charges and rates?

[Trikster]

Hi,
Feel free to point me to an existing thread but couldn't find one..

Just received a cheque in USD ($4.5k) and need to pay it into my UK account. Have personal accounts with Barclays and Lloyds (just regular accounts).

Anyone know their charges and what type of rate I'll receive just handing them in over the counter?

Or, for this amount (it's a one off, not regular payment) is there a more cost effective way of handling this?

Thanks in advance....

[The Leaper]

Trikster,

I have a personal UK£ denominated Barclays account and regularly pay in US$ denominated cheques. You cannot use the regular paying in slip. You need to completed Barclays' Cheque Collection and Negotiation Formset available from any branch. It's a reasonably straightforward form to complete but you'll need to decide on "Collection" "Negotiation" or "Deferred" for settlement as described in detail on the front of the form. I do not know what will suit you best, of course. I always opt for "Collection".

Whatever settlement basis you opt for there will be commission and other charges, and of course you'll be subject to the US$ to UK£ conversion rate.

R.

[saleen836]

I gave Mrs Saleen a US$ cheque to pay in to her normal Barclays account, took the cheque in to local branch with her paying in book and handed over the counter, staff member filled out a form and with a signature from Mrs Saleen job done, no commision charged but expect the bank to give a poor exchange rate! I think at the time the rate was around $1.60- £1 the bank gave an exchange rate for the cheque of $1.85-£1, so your $4.5k will be worth less here.

[anonymous-user]

Some years ago I used to get C$ cheques. The best deal was to take them to a Canadian bank's office in London (RBC, I think) and have them cashed and converted to Sterling over the counter.

[gjf764]

Not sure about charges but just to explain, if the cheque is 'collected' then you wont get the funds until the bank has the money from the US bank. If it's 'negotiated' then yuo will have the funds pretty quickly but the bank will swipe them back if the cheque isn't paid for whatever reason. Despite what the previous poster said I don't think tht this choice will be yours, it will be down to credit risk assesment/ policy of the bank.

I've just re-read, is it a us$ cheque drawn on a UK bank or a foreign bank?

[The Leaper]

Just to clarify the settlement basis choice, it is your choice, not the Bank's, and you opt for it when you complete the form I referred to. Charges and settlement time will vary depending on what you choose.

R.

[gjf764]

Hi The Leaper, think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one, up to a certain amount you may be right. However there is a credit risk to the bank letting the money go into the account without getting it from the foreign bank. £200k for example, negotiated (funds paid into account in advance of turning up) customer spends £200k then cheque bounces back from USA, all of a sudden UK customer is £200k overdrawn......This is where someone at the bank makes a call on the risk and therefore whether it is negotiated or collected.

[The Leaper]

Hi jgf764,

I look forward to a time when I get a US$ cheque for $200,000 to pay into my personal account, and I'll take your advice about settlement! I am sure that you are right: having made a choice and something goes wrong then I assume that the bank has the right to change the choice and charge accordingly.

R.

[northandy]

Trikster said:

Hi,
Feel free to point me to an existing thread but couldn't find one..

Just received a cheque in USD ($4.5k) and need to pay it into my UK account. Have personal accounts with Barclays and Lloyds (just regular accounts).

Anyone know their charges and what type of rate I'll receive just handing them in over the counter?

Or, for this amount (it's a one off, not regular payment) is there a more cost effective way of handling this?

Thanks in advance....

My bank (first direct) charges about £25 to do that, the rate will be worse, for example last on i did was 1.62 when the real rate was 1.59

I couldnt find a better way, so i now recieve mine in gbp cheques instead.

[Trikster]

Thanks all - a trip to Barclays on Wed me thinks - be interested to see what rate they quote - hopefully not too far to the true rate eg like the 1.62 when 1.59 example rather that the 1.8 vs 1.6...

[CT63]

I reckon Barclays will give you £1/$1.50

Edited by CT63 on Monday 4th June 19:58

[saleen836]

Trikster said:

Thanks all - a trip to Barclays on Wed me thinks - be interested to see what rate they quote - hopefully not too far to the true rate eg like the 1.62 when 1.59 example rather that the 1.8 vs 1.6...

So how did you get on at the bank?

[Tony 1234]

Holy thread revival---Just received an American Dollar cheque. best efficient way to cash now?

Thanks

[montecristo]

Banks take a huge chunk off, because of the forex spread.

If it's a big enough cheque, it could be worth your while to open a $ account with the bank, deposit the cheque as $ without it getting changed, then wire the $ to your £ account via something like Midpoint, Hifx or similar. You'll lose maybe 1% vs the 10%+ you would lose with the bank.