Bounced USD cheque (Nationwide)

alanhart

Auntie-Dolly wrote: »

It's not usual to be able to pay a $ cheque directly into your UK account - you should have asked. The cashier wouldn't have any idea it wasn't in sterling unless you told her.

You can with Nationwide, here is their policy on paying in a foreign cheque:

"If a cheque or dividend payment is in a foreign currency, we can arrange to clear them and obtain the proceeds for you. A range of fees may be payable, depending on the type of cheque received but we will choose one of two methods to convert it into sterling, Collection or Negotiation. Please ask at the branch for any fees that may be payable.

Collection takes place where you or we require confirmation that the cheque has been paid. It often involves larger amounts and can take up to 8 weeks, sometimes longer, before we are able to credit your account with the proceeds.

Negotiation usually takes 5 working days and we credit your account prior to receiving confirmation that the cheque has been paid. In the event that the payment is not paid, we will debit your account with the amount of the original credit and notify you of this, the same day. Exchange rates will apply if the cheque is drawn in a foreign currency which may affect the amount debited from the account if the cheque is returned unpaid.

In both cases you may be subject to further charges from the foreign bank in processing the cheque. Charges may apply regardless of whether the cheque is paid or returned. Any agent bank required to convert the funds into sterling will use the applicable exchange rate on the day that they receive the currency. We will always write however, to confirm which option has been used and the exchange rate that will apply."

(taken from a search of nationwide.co.uk for "paying in a foreign cheque")

So you're telling me that cashiers aren't paid to use their eyes then?

alanhart

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

So, doesn't the issue boil down to "my wife paid in a pile of cheques with a USD cheque hidden amongst a load of GBP ones; she didn't tell the cashier one was in dollars; the cashier didn't notice and therefore it's Nationwide's fault".

A bit harsh on the cashier and Nationwide. As others have said, she should have paid in the GBP cheques and then told the cashier she had a foreign currency cheque to pay in separately.

i wouldn't have called it a "pile" of cheques, it was only 3. 2 GBP and 1 USD.

I actually work for a company that works with cheque scanning hardware/software and it's possible for software to detect currency (using OCR/ICR). obviously nationwide's tech isn't quite up to date.

Auntie-Dolly

"If a cheque or dividend payment is in a foreign currency, we can arrange to clear them and obtain the proceeds for you. A range of fees may be payable, depending on the type of cheque received but we will choose one of two methods to convert it into sterling, Collection or Negotiation. Please ask at the branch for any fees that may be payable.

By not bringing it to their attention were you trying to avoid the fees?

zppp

alanhart wrote: »

obviously nationwide's tech isn't quite up to date.

Well it obviously is, otherwise you wouldn't have recieved the cheque back?

Biggles

Auntie-Dolly wrote: »

It's not usual to be able to pay a $ cheque directly into your UK account - you should have asked. The cashier wouldn't have any idea it wasn't in sterling unless you told her.

It's perfectly usual to pay USD (or EUR, or any other currency) cheques into your UK bank account, they all accept them happily. They also, of course, charge varying fees for the process.

alanhart

Auntie-Dolly wrote: »

"If a cheque or dividend payment is in a foreign currency, we can arrange to clear them and obtain the proceeds for you. A range of fees may be payable, depending on the type of cheque received but we will choose one of two methods to convert it into sterling, Collection or Negotiation. Please ask at the branch for any fees that may be payable.

By not bringing it to their attention were you trying to avoid the fees?

I didn't know there were fees but assumed that there might be and that the cashier would mention if there were when they processed the cheque. It's not the duty of the customer to know the bank's procedures!

alanhart

zppp wrote: »

Well it obviously is, otherwise you wouldn't have recieved the cheque back?

it was the issuing bank that returned/bounced the cheque not nationwide

lippy1923

Your wifes fault really. She should have said something. Sounds like it was paid in at an ATM as cashiers cant print images on receipts. They dont have scanners on the tills. Cashiers just type amounts into the computor. And they usually put in cheques as one lump sum.
have you got a picture of this receipt? sounds interesting!

alanhart

lippy1923 wrote: »

Your wifes fault really. She should have said something. Sounds like it was paid in at an ATM as cashiers cant print images on receipts. They dont have scanners on the tills. Cashiers just type amounts into the computor. And they usually put in cheques as one lump sum.
have you got a picture of this receipt? sounds interesting!

If you read one of my previous replies you'd see that it was done at the cashier desk and that nationwide do scan cheques at the cashier desk, they have always provided me with cheque images printed on the receipts for the last few years.

If you pay in a wad of £20 notes and have a 20 euro note in amongst them the teller should notice it, shouldn't they? It's no different fr cheques.

olly300

alanhart wrote: »

If you read one of my previous replies you'd see that it was done at the cashier desk and that nationwide do scan cheques at the cashier desk, they have always provided me with cheque images printed on the receipts for the last few years.

If you pay in a wad of £20 notes and have a 20 euro note in amongst them the teller should notice it, shouldn't they? It's no different fr cheques.

Yes the teller should notice but being realistic if they can see a queue of people behind you they are going to be trying to work out how to get the queue of customers down by working more quickly.

However you should also tell the teller that you have a foreign currency cheque.

That way you have performed a double check on the process.

After all we are all human and everyone makes mistakes.