cheque charges

bank takes all my money

[colinf]

I hope i am allowed to disclose this here.

I received 2 cheques (in Germany) from Google for $175 & $250 The cheques had to be cashed with Citibank Germany who in turn sent them to Google citybank Delaware, and they charged me $150 to cash the cheques!

Surely that cannot be right?

I don`t want to know how much you earn through Adsense, but i would be grateful to find out the general amounts you pay per cashed cheque.

Thanks

cf

[makemetop]

I've opened a US$ account. As such, it costs me zip to pay in US$, I don't lose on the exchange rate and can pay for things in US$ without losing again on the exchange rate.

Even before, that I only paid £5 per cheque to pay $ into a Sterling A/c via First Trust Bank. $150 is waaay too much!

[kyrkesmith]

Did you open a $US in the UK? If so, do you have any fees to pay on it?

OT: roughly how long does it usually take for the cheques to arrive in the UK, e.g. roughly when can I expect my January money?

[level80]

Cheques take (if airmail) about four working days from being posted in the States to being received here in the UK. Of course there are things that'll affect this - it increases over the lead up to Christmas - but generally it's four days unless something unusual happens.

[MarkJH]

Barclays (UK) charge £9 for three cheques. Doesn't seem bad at all after reading some of these! :o

[moltar]

$0 - Canada

[level80]

The bank I use (HSBC) have a sliding scale for foreign currency cheque negotiation. They do have the option of US dollar accounts too - but the monthly account maintenance charge would make it pointless on the amounts I get. I agree though with the previous poster - if you're willing to risk possibly losing money on the exchange rate - paying in one or more foreign currency cheques at once can be more economical.

[Zola]

colinf!
In Serbia and Montenegro, CommerzBank (from Germany!) charge 1% of check and pay after 20 days.

[getvisibleuk]

"Lloyds (England) is 8 pounds per US cheque. Takes two days to get into account."

Thats why I'm moving over to them. Just paid a four figure adsense cheque in and was charged £15 and had to wait 28 days. Going in to see Lloyds today.

I've also just opened a US$ account with BofS and haven't got a paying in book so it seems a bit useless!

[cazgh]

can't believe it - I paid a US$ check into my Natwest account on Jan 7th and still havent received the money!

[abbeyvet]

My bank in Ireland charge 5 Euro per cheque BUT, and this is common to all banks in Ireland, they take 20 working days to clear.

I find this intensely annoying. I just had a cheque from a US client clear today, it was lodged on the 9th of January. Not only did the money disappear from her account 5 days after I lodged it (meaning the bank had it, free, for 23 days before they paid me) but she had the actual physical cheque in her hand more than 2 weeks before I saw the money.

If anyone in Ireland knows of a bank who are a bit more speedy please tell me!

[level80]

This is the scale of charges that HSBC charge me here in the UK (for foreign currency cheque negotiation). The cheque always clears the day I pay it in:-

Non-sterling, non-euro cheques

Sterling Equivalent

Up to £50 £4 per cheque
£51-£200 £6 per cheque
£201-£500 £8 per cheque
£501-£5,000 £14 per cheque
£5,001-£10,000 £20 per cheque
£10,001+ £30 per cheque

I'm not sure what they charge in Ireland - but I would've thought it'd be something similar. You're obviously sending your cheques for collection rather than negotiation. Collection means you don't get the money till it has cleared.

If you get a lot of cheques from abroad (eg more than ten a week) (and have payments for America too) - it can be worth opening a US dollar account and lockbox. The way a lockbox works is this:-

Places sending you cheques post it to a PO Box number for an HSBC address in New York - they then present your cheque for payment in the US. Copies of cheques and any supporting documentation supplied by purchasers are forwarded to you by first class post, airmail or, at an extra cost, by courier. Cheques are cleared in your US dollar account on the day that they're received by HSBC. The charge for this is only £4/ month plus a £40 monthly maintenance fee. However it does save you all the time of going to the bank and paying in cheques....

[bluelook]

Here in Portugal I pay 5 Euros. But I had a problem one time... my bank refused to accept a $56 check in US dollars, because the check´s bank was from UK. They said it wasn´t worth it.
I stopped accepting checks with less than $100...

It seems they don´t like small checks that aren´t in the country´s original currency.

[Roomy]

15 Euros per cheque Post Bank Germany, I'm about to find out about opening a dollar account.

[Noel]

Rabo bank (Holland) takes € 15 per/cheque.

I've got a Dollar account on Isle of Man. Maybe I should start to bank the cheques there!

Noel

[robho]

I've got a Dollar account on Isle of Man. Maybe I should start to bank the cheques there!

Find out what their charges are, varies a lot. My bank in the IOM doesn't charge for depositing into my $US account dollar checks which are negotiated (checks under $5k), the money is available in 7 days, and with really large minimum balances a US$ debit card is available.

Checks forwarded for collection may have charges from the drawing bank. I switched to my current bank when the previous one starting charging $10 for every check deposited a couple of years ago, so some do charge more, shop around.

[bluelook]

As Robho said, the best option is to ask several banks, even some that you aren´t client yet. Some other banks asked me €15 per check, but this one only charges me €5

[ferfer]

Hi, I Argentina you have "first class" options from a "third world" country.

I used to cash my checks at a financial house and bank at 2% and money is received in CASH in the same moment if the check was in name of a US bank (I only received 1 in name of a US company and they payed me in cash also in the same moment because I had no problems with them before).

Now if you go to some down-town trade houses, they buy the checks at 1%, cash in 1 minute, no matter where are you from.

Now if you wanted to cash some US checks just after The Arentinian "little financial problem" that limited Funds transfer to other ****ries, US checks were WANTED and the used to pay you up to 5% more than the check value!

Now I have a US first-class bank account for non-residents opened from here, so I mail them the checks, and there is no charge at all, plus I can use direct deposit and transfers too.

[seindal]

In Denmark, I pay $15 (DKR 100) per valuta, so I collect a stack of checks and cash them all at once to keep the costs down.

You definitely need to shop around. There are many banks in Germany, and many foreign banks too, so you're bound to find a better deal. Ask if they charge per valuta or per check, because it can make a big difference. If it is per valuta, you can let the small checks ride on a back of a big one.

René

[muszek]

Poland. 1%, but no less than one Euro at PKO BP. I thought that's a lot until now :). They said "it's ususally 21 days", but today (23 days after leaving the first check) they said that there was no answer yet.

[dongjp]

Beijing, one thousandth of the amount printed on the Check, but the minimum is 30 CNY (about 4$).

[buksida]

In Thailand its 10 USD per cheque ... but it takes a month to clear :-(

Also takes about two weeks to arrive so I've yet to receive Januarys payment.

[BobbyN]

Whatever the charges, when is google going to get in the real world and allow some sort of wire transaction facility, and also pay out in the correct currency.

Adense is good, but the stats and general setup of the operation leave a lot to be desired.

[mm1220]

AbbeyVet:

Regarding Ireland:
When I lodge a cheque into the AIB branch I have my account at the money goes in straight away!
If I lodge it into another branch it takes ~ 2 days.
Not bad from what you guys seem to have to put up with.