International Cheques into my Account

AnxiousMum

I have a Barclays Additions account for daily use. Each month, I receive a cheque drawn on a provincial government from Canada (child support enforcement) in the same amount, which I deposit into my same account.
Some months, it is done on negotiation - ie, payment is in my account the following day in GBP, but every other month, I get a letter stating that it has to be done by collection, not negotiation as requested, and that it won't be clear for six weeks.

I've just phoned Barclays to find out the reasons - and told that it can be affected by a number of reasons - ie, who the payor is, what country it is, the amount of the cheque, and which account it is paid into. As ALL these factors are a constant each month, I fail to see how it can be one way one month, and another way another month. As this money is for my son each month who is going to university - would appreciate if anybody knows anything further about how to have it cleared through negotiation - the quicker way, rather than having to wait longer than necessary for the funds to clear for him? Thanks

dtaylor84

I know approximately nothing about this subject... but here's my guess anyway:

Perhaps there's a cumulative limit on the number/value of cheques they are prepared to clear by negotiation? And the first (negotiated) cheque hasn't fully cleared by the time you present the next one, so they require it to be processed by collection.

AnxiousMum

Thanks, but no, that can't be it either. Have only just put in the third one (used to do it years ago but then he stopped paying) in recent moths

First one - put in for collection, took six weeks
Second one - by negotiation, cleared next day, however, first one still not cleared
First one, cleared about two weeks after the one by negotiation
Third cheque - both previous ones cleared and paid out, and put for collection.....

Good thought though....

I'm just trying to find out how they determine how to do each cheque - they couldn't tell me, and apparently the only people who can, are 'unreachable' by phone.....by customer services or me! lol - can just see all these decision makers locked away in some cave somewhere, cut off from civilisation - just brainstorming and making up rules that don't make sense!

rb10

I believe that they take into account how trusted you are as a customer.

If they pay it by negotiation, then they have to give you the money long before they have any idea whether the cheque will bounce or not - so they have to trust you for this to happen.

But by collection, they don't let you have the money until they have confirmation that the cheque will be paid.

I imagine that your internal behaviour score fluctuates month to month, and it's this that causes the change in processing of it.

By the way, it may be worth looking at how you receive this money. The charges by banks for processing international payments vary enormously. Have you checked that Barclays is the cheapest? If the sender is happy to send it electronically, that may be an even cheaper option, as receiving money electronically from abroad can be very cheap (or even free).

AnxiousMum

Thanks RB - but even with that info, same income and outgoings in the accouont each month, never been in overdraft so can't see what fluctuations there might be either.
In terms of the way it is paid, unfortunately, it's a garnishee from my ex's wages, and because it's a government agency that is sending it, they receive the funds from his payroll, and then cut a cheque. If I was in Canada, it would be the direct deposited into my account, but they don't do direct deposit to international accounts, as they would then have to pay a fee their end.....and can't legally deduct it off of what they send me! Thanks for your reply

benji1902

Use to work in that building on the international payments help desk (before my job went to Mumbi) and some one of my friends worked in the cheques call centre and another on the sanctions team (the one in the dark room lol). Basically its down to discretion of the person processing the cheque. The bank likes to keep your money for 6 weeks even though they get it almost straight away.
Saying that a lot of the time cheques slip through to negotiation hence you get the money straight away. Rubbish system and expensive charges. Do not pay international cheques in with them! Abbey (Santander) on the other hand always pay on negotiation after the first cheque has cleared and they only charge a tenner, barclays min is £16. Hope this helps.