Banker’s Draft, Building Society Cheque or Postal order…

andyca

Which offers the best value and where to get them? I need £60 for a holiday Visa application and the embassy only accepts these three methods of payment. I was shocked when I looked into this and saw the wide range of prices. I thought I would update MSE on what I had found out so far, and invite peopleto chip in with some extra details:

Bankers draft fees: (generally Fixed prices)
Halifax £20
Santander £10
Barclays £15
HSBC £35 (£25 for Premier Customers)

Postal order fee: (sliding scale depending on face value)
£0 - £4.99 50p
£5 - £9.99 £1.00
£10.00 - £99.99 12.50% of the face value
£100 - £250 £12.50

So my visa is looking like it could cost £7.50 in postal orders, or up to £35 if I had not shopped around! Obviously postal orders have the limitation of the £250 cap. I could not get an answer form any of the banks on ‘building society cheques’, some said I needed a savings account with them that was 'branch based' and had special stipulations, and others said the amount needed to be a minimum of £2000. But there was no fee… Are building society cheques one of those things that banks have to offer free of charge but try not to tell you about it and put ridiculous stipulations in the way?

Surely the MSE hive can work out how to get one of these for free? Any thoughts?

Andyca

Mikeyorks

Banker's Draft and Building Society Cheques are one and the same thing these days. You will normally get them free if you draw on an account that can't carry a cheque book - ie most savings accounts. But - a number of Banks now carry a minimum on that - for instance Halifax is £500.

So - the POs (cross them as they're unsafe otherwise) are the best bet.

dzug1

Building Society cheques are issued by Building Societies as a way of withdrawing money from your non-cheque book account with them. You don't buy them over the counter. Typically you take your passbook in and ask to withdraw £x in the form of a cheque payable to Y company.

There would normally be no charge AFAIK.

stclair

Could someone else not write a cheque on your behalf and give them the money.

JacksterD

stclair wrote: »

Could someone else not write a cheque on your behalf and give them the money.

It sounds like they want a cheque which is guaranteed not to bounce - i.e. a banker's draft/building society cheque, or a postal order.

stclair

JacksterD wrote: »

It sounds like they want a cheque which is guaranteed not to bounce - i.e. a banker's draft/building society cheque, or a postal order.

Surely they have "trusted" friends and family...

YorkshireBoy

stclair wrote: »

Surely they have "trusted" friends and family...

By "they", I think JacksterD was referring to the embassy.