one time cashing in of foreign cheques

londonTiger

I have a website that makes money through advertising, and I have to get paid in USD cheques for the first two payments (after which I get paid via BACS in GBP).

The cheques are there just for security purposes. So I need a cheap way to cash in two $100 cheques.

I have current accounts with halifax, natwest and hsbc. I was wondering which of these banks is the least costly and easiest want to pay in the cheques into my accounts.

A dedicated USD account is pointless it's going to cost me money to maintain these accounts, I just need to pay in around $200 in total for two payments.

Advice would be greatly appreciated.

drhewitt

I believe the Halifax accepts deposit of foreign cheques though I would do it in person not via ATM.

They will charge you and it will take longer for the cheques to clear. Since you only have $200 this would be the better option. Also, check to see if your cheques have a 90 day window in which to cash them before they expire as I have often found this to be the case, but it depends who is issuing the checks.

opinions4u

Most banks will accept foreign cheques.

All will charge a fee, calculate an exchange rate favorable to themselves and the tell you that the clearance time could be up to a month.

Good luck with the business!

londonTiger

Just to let everyone know, i paid in the USD cheque into hsbc, they charge £6 fee for foregin cheques for anything below £500 value (the larger cheques will probably be higher fees).

They use the exchange rate at the time of paying in to change the money.

I could have saved £6 more if I waited for the other $100 cheuqe to arrive, and pay them in together, but I'm not really too bothered, the cheques are valid for 90 days, and the other one I could get in 30-45 days time, it doesn't seem like it's worth waiting around for.