UK bank with cheap rates for foreign cheques

soolin

I'm asking for a friend so any help would be appreciated.

Friend is going to get 2 foreign currency pension cheques a month one in dollars, one in euros and is trying to find the cheapest way of converting these to sterling or paying them into a high street bank. Most of the High Street banks we've asked so far will take a minimum of £10 per cheque, and £20 a month in charges for something so regular is a bit high and we are desperately trying to find a cheaper option.

We have already exhausted all the possibilities of trying to get payment direct, or by bank transfer, so are stuck with 2 different cheques a month needing to go into a UK bank account. A an ebay seller myself I am well aware that this is a difficult thing to achieve and was really hoping that someone knew of a bank or BS that offered cheaper options for a regular payment.

Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

Soo

techno_geek

I know CitiBank offer current accounts in Sterling, Euros and Dollars, and I think many large banks offer similar products.

If your friend opens a current account with Citi, they can open additional accounts in $ and € to accommodate these cheques. They will have to maintain a minimum balance of £2000 across all their accounts at Citibank to avoid a monthly fee, but I think in an exceptional case like this it's worth looking into.

I believe HSBC and NatWest offer similar accounts for their international clients, but having looked at the costs briefly it looks like Citibank are the clear winners in this situation.