Urgently need to write a cheque in Dollars - How?

jonesMUFCforever

You will have to be a customer of a bank for them to order a bank draft or transfer for you - so asking about a particular bank is a waste of time unless you have an account.

Also I seem to think the smallest USD travellers cheque these days is $20

naijapower

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

You will have to be a customer of a bank for them to order a bank draft or transfer for you - so asking about a particular bank is a waste of time unless you have an account.

Also I seem to think the smallest USD travellers cheque these days is $20

Very true. The $10 is way too small to warrant the charge you would have to pay.
Posting by registered mail might be an option

Voyager2002

What kind of application is this?

Anyway, if you both sign and counter-sign a travellers' cheque, the person who receives it should be able to pay it into their bank account.

And I agree that Paypal would be far and away the most cost-effective option.

cottager

Going back maybe 10 yrs I used to occasionally need to send small amounts in dollars overseas, and the cost of a foreign draft from my bank was prohibitive, usually way more than the face value.

Someone told me about Ruesch International -- American I think, but they had an office in London. Only had to give them a call, order the draft, they would give me a reference and the cost in £, then I'd send a cheque first class which they'd get the next morning, and they would send me the draft by return post, usually the same day they got my cheque. OK, it took 2-3 days from ordering, but it was extremely straightforward, they were very efficient and prompt and, instead of shelling out £20-odd, Ruesch charged something like £2.50 per draft, which I think had increased to £3 the last time I used it. Didn't need to have an account or anything -- they'd just do it on a one-off basis.

So it's going back a bit, but seeing your question I thought of them straight away. Their URL (http://www.ruesch.com/) still works but it seems they were taken over in 2007 by someone called Travelex.

Taken a quick look, and as you might expect after some years it all seems to have got more complicated! I'm not sure they do anything as simple as this any more or in the same way or so 'small', but if all else fails it might be worth giving them a quick call to enquire: 020 7400 4000.

Otherwise PayPal seems a decent solution if possible.
Or maybe...
Western Union: http://www.westernunion.co.uk/
Moneybookers: http://www.moneybookers.com/
but the problem may be sending to Kenya... these types of companies don't always send to every country, so you'd need to check Kenya's listed as well as what they charge.

Or send a $10 note by registered mail as BarclaysManager suggests.
My brother buys stamps from some very obscure places overseas and for low amounts he'll get currency from the Post Office and send by mail. And quite often (I was horrified to discover!) not even by registered mail if it's a really small amount. He swears that over a number of years he's only ever had one person claim they've not received what he sent.

Hmmm... don't think I'd ever risk sending unregistered, but sending cash is the cheapest option with the PO not charging commission (always assuming they can/will sell you a low total like this: they say "Please note that we can’t buy or sell coins and some low denomination notes.")
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/jump1?mediaId=19300210&catId=19300207

dazza.mk

You could try
http://auctionchex.com/minfo-s.html

a service often used by eBay users before they made Paypal compulsory

Extant

cottager wrote: »

Someone told me about Ruesch International -- American I think, but they had an office in London. Only had to give them a call, order the draft, they would give me a reference and the cost in £, then I'd send a cheque first class which they'd get the next morning, and they would send me the draft by return post, usually the same day they got my cheque. OK, it took 2-3 days from ordering, but it was extremely straightforward, they were very efficient and prompt and, instead of shelling out £20-odd, Ruesch charged something like £2.50 per draft, which I think had increased to £3 the last time I used it. Didn't need to have an account or anything -- they'd just do it on a one-off basis.

They let you do this without an account, and sent it in that fast of a time span? Seems peculiar with cheque clearing.

So it's going back a bit, but seeing your question I thought of them straight away. Their URL (http://www.ruesch.com/) still works but it seems they were taken over in 2007 by someone called Travelex.

Travelex is the world's largest foreign currency merchant, for reference. You'll see their booths in airports all around the world, and they run the "back end" of the foreign currency services for all the major UK banks.

Hmmm... don't think I'd ever risk sending unregistered, but sending cash is the cheapest option with the PO not charging commission (always assuming they can/will sell you a low total like this: they say "Please note that we can’t buy or sell coins and some low denomination notes.")
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/jump1?mediaId=19300210&catId=19300207

I can't imagine anywhere that stocks USD/USM not selling the $10 bill; the "low denominations" will likely refer to things like the Singapore $2 notes, which aren't commonly traded, etc.

cottager

BarclaysManager wrote: »

They let you do this without an account, and sent it in that fast of a time span? Seems peculiar with cheque clearing.

Yes, weird: but there was certainly at least one occasion when the draft arrived by return, and I don't remember it ever being more than 3 tops after they'd have got my cheque. A really excellent service, particularly considering the low charge, and a godsend back then.

As for the account part, I can't say for sure there wasn't a note of me after using them the first time, so that maybe when I rang again I had some form of 'account' number to quote or something like that; but definitely nothing in the sense of a bank account, financial checks etc. A more trusting time perhaps

dzug1

'Registered Post' doesn't exist any more, not under that name.

International Recorded is the service to go for - it costs £3.50 plus normal postage. Plus insurance if value is over (I think) £36.

Ther is one snag with it though - many countries do not allow cash in the mail, so if it gets lost/stolen/seized you could not claim for it despite the insurance it includes. Whether Kenya is one of those countries I've no idea.