Bank Charges for Foreign Cheques, could we make a list please?

WSO

Well it's that time again when I am due to get my 3 monthly cheque from Amazon, and since Amazon.com have absolutely no plans to offer direct deposit to anyone but those in the US (Amazon.co.uk aren't a problem) I thought it might be an idea to have a list of banks along with what they charge at each level for negotiating a foreign cheque.

So, feel free to chip in - particularly if you can get your hand on an official leaflets, documentation and policies because it has been rather hit and miss with HSBC over the last few year for me.

I have been "charged" anywhere between £6 and £15 for cheques up to about £250 (charged in quotes because on two or three occasions while it was written on the paperwork it never got entered into the system at the branch)... however there has been a rising trend recently and I don't want to pay out more than I need to. Indeed I was an early adopter for Google's EFT payments because it saved me both fees and a trip to the bank each month.

Anyway, I'm considering using AuctionPix that was previously mentioned by others in the forum - but it seems that at the figures I have available to work with this time around are only marginally better than what I think I would get from HSBC (not exactly sure what the rate is but going by last charge for similar amount).

I like the idea of AuctionPix paying me direct into my account for a one off fee of £3.50 (useful if you are going to use it regularly) - but really can't see it being competitive enough at the over inflated exchange rate they use to cover the costs (compared to the small % of exchange rate and fixed fee structure the banks tend to use) if my earnings from Amazon were to increase.

I might just try my luck with HSBC again this time around... at least there is a chance I might not be charged again and I wont have to wait yet another month for funds to clear and for the money to get to my account!