Is there a 'collection fee' CitiBank gets for AdSense checks?

Looks like they got $125 from my check

[websoftware]

I just cashed in my first AdSense check today, and, to my surprise, there was a $125 'Collection fee' appearing in the SWIFT output. This was not my bank's comission, that is separate and it appears indeed like CitiBank got that $125 collection fee.
Is this normal? Anybody else paid this fee?

[James]

How much was the check? If it was one of those big ones:$$$$$$$ Then perhaps the fee is based on the value of the transaction

If the check was say for $200 then thats a problem!

[websoftware]

The check was a little more than $3600

[Angelis]

Its might be the handling / cashing fee for the Cheque, Works out to be a charge of about 3.5%.

[websoftware]

That's what I figured, but I wanted to know if it happened to other people too.

If it's a fee everybody pays, I have no problem with that, but I want to make sure that my bank is not charging me some hidden fees or something like that.

So, anyone actually paid this fee or am I the only one? :)

[miguelito]

when i was checking out the cost etc some time ago there was a huge discrepancy between banks....they all try and screw you for commission in this day and age because they can no longer shaft you through simple interest rates due to the low levels in europe and the US for some time now.
Citibank will collect and negotiate it for you free of charge but only if you open a special account with them whereby you agree to pay in at least $ 2000 every month.
to give you some other examples, in europe, BBVA the largest spanish bank, will charge you 15 euros (about $ 18) for cashing up to 3 checks at the same time regardless of the amount.
Lloyds TSB in the UK will charge 8 pounds sterling ( $ 14) for the same service.
Both take about 3 days to see the actual money credited to your account.
Wherever you live, iīm sure you can get a much better deal than what you describe..that is extortionate and i would complain to the bank as that does (surprisingly) often yield results....last step is the banking ombudsman who looks into complaints (but iīm guessing here as i donīt know where you are from)

SWIFT is "Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication"

[Angelis]

Im with Barclays in the UK, as far as I can tell they dont charge anything other than the normal cashing fee which is about 2.5%...

[Dantol]

Why are you using CityBank?

I pay NO FEES for Adsense earnings. Why should you?

[miguelito]

" Im with Barclays in the UK, as far as I can tell they dont charge anything other than the normal cashing fee which is about 2.5% "

... donīt you find that extortionate? I paid 8 pounds for a $ 4,000 i got with Lloyds TSB...if i had used Barclays, that would have cost 58 pounds.( 2.5%)

...take into account that they also exchange at their own very favourable (for them) currency exchange rate and they are seriously shafting you no matter how big the cheque is.

why should they get 2.5 % of your ad revenue money? ridiculous!

[tebrino]

HVB Bank, Serbia and Montenegro, 0.6% fee. I don't even notice they took anything

[kiladen]

Why not deposit the money into your bank and not pay a cent? Waiting a few more days is better than paying crazy fees. Unless in other countries you can't deposit US checks, but in the US there's no reason to cash a large check instead of depositing, since most people end up depositing the cash anyways.

[websoftware]

The AdSense check is issued by Citibank, I am using another bank, but on the transaction log (the SWIFT output) it showed a 'collection fee' that Citibank took.
Please, if any of you have an real explanation about this, I really dont care how much are your bank's comissions.

I just think it would be helpful if anybody has paid this fee before. Thanks.

Why are you using CityBank?
I pay NO FEES for Adsense earnings. Why should you?

[websoftware]

Looks like I didnt make myself clear enough, sorry.
Here it is again:

I got a check from Google (issued by Citibank NY) in the mail, I deposited it to my local bank, and I received the money (minus my bank's comissions and minus $125).
The problem is with $125, which appears in the transaction log (SWIFT output) as a 'collection fee' took by Citibank NY (the issuer of the check).

This is the thing I am asking, did any of you saw anything like this before? No interemediary banks either, as my bank has a direct relation with Citybank NY.

[incrediBILL]

Are you in the US or outide of the US?

I did a quick search on Google and SWIFT fees appear to be some international thing, not sure if they would be used on transfers within the US.

If this was all in the US then I would call and start screaming at them now as I've never heard of a 'collection' fee for depositing a check into your own account, EVER.

[websoftware]

I'm in Romania, Eastern Europe.
I can imagine this wouldn't be the case if I were in the US, but alot of bad things like this happen in this part of the world and others for that matter.

Are you in the US or outide of the US?

I did a quick search on Google and SWIFT fees appear to be some international thing, not sure if they would be used on transfers within the US.

If this was all in the US then I would call and start screaming at them now as I've never heard of a 'collection' fee for depositing a check into your own account, EVER.

[James]

Banks normally charge a fee for processing foreign paper as it is called. Think about it, it costs them money to do the processing, so why should they do it for nothing?

The best thing to do is to ring your bank where you handed the check in and simply ask them for an explanation of there various charges, which in fact they did or should have done when you opened the account in any event.

[OddDog]

talk to the bank and ask them, seems the easiest thing to do to me ...

[websoftware]

That was the first thing I did, ask my bank, they said they dont know why Citibank took this collection fee, but they did. That's why I am asking if anyone else saw this before, but apparently i'm the only one that actually paid that fee...

[jomaxx]

I think CitiBank is a service provider some banks use to manage foreign exchange transfers. Nonetheless $125 is pretty steep. Where are you located? What currency are you getting transfers in?

<added>Never mind, I see you already answered this later on in the thread. Sorry, no clue about banking in Romania, although it's not surprising that costs may be higher than in North America or Western Europe.</added>

[incrediBILL]

Think about it, it costs them money to do the processing

Couldn't cost them THAT much...

Most of this stuff is all computerized these days so from the time the teller punches in your account information and the check information computers pretty much do all the rest of the work. IMO many of these "fees" are a throwback to the old days where the physical paper shuffled from country to country and everything was done by hand.

[websoftware]

Actually the check is still sent via regular mail, but that's another story. My bank sends the check to the issuing bank via mail, and of course those costs are paid by me, not cheap either ($50 for DHL)...

[tebrino]

That is a good reason to change your bank

[sailorjwd]

Commission!

I would consider overthrowing your government and putting in someone who gives a poop about the common man.

(assuming you have an account with that bank)

[sailorjwd]

Sorry... nevermind... I see you are from Romania and already did that - good job.

[websoftware]

That's a good idea, start a riot and throw down a government because a foreign bank took a very high comission on a transaction. Why didn't I think of this before?!

I would consider overthrowing your government and putting in someone who gives a poop about the common man.