US Dollar cheques and UK banking

**mrcakey** · 16-06-11

Hi, newbie here.

I did a search on this issue but didn't manage to find anything. I've got a bit of commission built up with Amazon US and if things continue as they are I should have crossed the threshold for payment by EOM. I just checked (ahem) my bank's charges for paying in USD cheques and it's £15 minimum a crack, which is obviously less than efficient when $100 is about £60.

The last post I found about this was from 2004 - just wondering if anyone has any advice on how the situation stands in 2011?

**aPhile8** · 16-06-11

Halifax don't charge me but you do have to fill out forms. A pain but at least it's free.

**Deeps2365** · 23-10-11

Originally Posted by aPhile8

Halifax don't charge me but you do have to fill out forms. A pain but at least it's free.

What account do you have with them? they charge me for this service..

**m8internet** · 23-10-11

Originally Posted by aPhile8

Halifax don't charge me but you do have to fill out forms. A pain but at least it's free.

I have a Bank of Scotland Business account, the normal transaction fees apply
This is something like 75p lodging, £5.00 handling charge, and currency conversion

However, the branch suggested I deposit it to my personal account (as it was made payable to name T/A company name)
The currency conversion would then be at the retail rate, with a handling fee of £3.50, and save me about £7
The money was then transferred from my personal account to my business account

£15 to deposit a non-GBP cheque is extortion, as you then have the currency exchange on top of that
I would suggest you look at the name on the account
You may be able to edit this
If so, ask your bank what the charges would be for a cheque made payable to x person / x business for an amount of y USD

Thankfully, Bank of Scotland have seen sense and there is no longer any difference so I deposit these cheques straight into my business account now
Equally, there should be no need to fill in any forms if the amount is under $250

**aPhile8** · 23-10-11

Originally Posted by Deeps2365

What account do you have with them? they charge me for this service..

Correction. They didn't used to charge me. They do now and the paperwork has grown to a four part form. I got a $Can cheque for $23, the paperwork took THEM 15 minutes to fill in and I was charged £4. In fact they originally charged me £7, I looked it up on THEIR web site, found out they were wrong and queried it and 2 weeks later got a £3 refund. Keep calm and carry on!