Given Travellers cheques by family friend.....how to cash?

rockykabir

Hey all - just a quick question,

My uncle - in the US - gifted me with Travellers cheques due to some recent good news :j

One problem.... how do I cash them in?

My uncle added a note that I require a passport to cash them in. However, I do not know where to sign? The cheques are actually blank - my uncle hasn't actually signed the cheques when he first received them....so do I sign them as I am the receptor?

MrSmartprice

What currency are they? Hopefully they gave you sterling cheques. If so, just spend them like cash. I remember when we used to take them years ago, we came home with some and used them in Tesco.

The alternative is to pay them into your bank. Again, they are like cash and should incur no charges.

justkeeppedalling

Hi

There should be 2 places to sign...

Firstly you need to sign them to show that they belong to you, then you countersign them in the presence of the cashier at a shop/bank/bureau de change etc.

However, where you sign them can be a tricky one - it depends on the issuing company of the travellers cheques.

If they are Amercian Express Travellers Cheques you usually have to sign them first on a line at the top (sometimes top left) of the cheque. It usually says something like 'sign here immediately on receipt of this cheque'. Then you countersign them at the bottom of the cheque - there is usually a line to sign on and below this line it says 'countersign in the presence of person cashing'

If they are VISA or Thomas Cook Travellers Cheques the above will be slightly different, but generally speaking you always have to sign them twice, once on receipt and once upon cashing.

If they're in US$ take them to your nearest American Express Office or Agent - they should not charge any commision to encash them. A lot of the high street travel agencies are Amercian Express agents. If they are Thomas Cook cheques take them to Thomas Cook. If they are Visa cheques - check around local banks and travel agencies to see what they'll charge you.

If they're in sterling just put them in your bank account.

Hope this helps,

Jo