When I got married recently a family friend gave us a cheque to put towards our honeymoon. Unfortunately it is in US dollars and I am finding it difficult to cash. My building society, Nationwide, says that because it is for $250 it falls below its accepted threshold for such transactions ($300) as it would cost too much to process. What other avenues do I have? The high street cheque cashing place could only advise me to try to find someone with a dollar account. I really don’t want to go back to our friend and ask them to give us the money another way – it ruins their lovely gesture. TRB, London
Nationwide will no longer accept any foreign cheques. Most banks will for a fee of around 0.25%. The trouble is, you would have to open an account with one of them to get this service.
How long this will last is another matter. Cheques are on the wane and cashing foreign ones is a lengthy procedure which brings very little return for the bank. As a spokesperson for the Payments Council says: “As no cross-border cheque clearing system exists, foreign cheques paid into UK bank accounts, and vice versa, have to be processed manually. It necessitates a foreign cheque being sent by post or courier by the beneficiary’s bank to the payer’s bank overseas – where the decision to pay or not to pay is made.”
Banks can charge what they like for this and, although some will pay the value of the cheque immediately and wait for the payer’s funds to clear, if it is returned unpaid, the sum will be debited from the beneficiaries account.
So your unappealing options are to open an account with a bank that cashes foreign cheques, or tell your friend that, since you are unable to cash their present, you intend to frame it as a memento. Hopefully, they will take the hint and send you the money by electronic transfer.
If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number.
