Cashing a cheque with Natwest

Scandi90

Sorry if this is an obvious question, I am not from the UK or used to dealing with cheques.
I have received a cheque which says Natwest. The bank I have is HSBC. Do I
- go to Natwest to get cash for the cheque even og Im not a customer there?
- deposit the cheque at an HSBC branch? Will it then go to my account immediately?

Scandi90

Also, can I do it at a post office?

dzug1

You will not be able to cash the cheque at any bank or Post Office

You must pay it in to your HSBC account and wait for it to clear before using it - to be absolutely safe allow a week

You might find a cheque cashing company will give you cash for it - for a suitable fee.

stclair

You would need to pay the cheque into your hsbc account and go through the 2 4 6 clearing cycle. So you wouldn't be able to use the funds immediately.

Scandi90

Thanks for the responses. Had no idea cheques were so slow, rather pointless system...

I'll probably take it to CC or something like that.

agrinnall

Scandi90 wrote: »

Thanks for the responses. Had no idea cheques were so slow, rather pointless system...

I'll probably take it to CC or something like that.

Where are you from that has a faster cheque system (I know there are places, it was overnight in NZ when I worked there, but many countries are much, much slower than the UK)? I would not recommend using CC or anything other than paying into your account unless you are so desperate for the money that you think the cost of using the service is worth paying.

PS And many people agree with you that cheques are rather pointless now, there was a plan to do away with them by 2018 but pressure groups have caused that idea to be scrapped.

Everynamestaken

Just go into Hsbc, (they have machines for it now aswell), and then the cheque will be cleared by next Monday if you do it tomorrow.

COIAHLGW

agrinnall wrote: »

Where are you from that has a faster cheque system

Here in the US, my bank will courtesy clear a cheque for the next day if deposited at the cash machine up until 10pm on a weekday. However, it's still subject to clearing and they will hit you up with a nasty charge if it does bounce.

dzug1

agrinnall wrote: »

PS And many people agree with you that cheques are rather pointless now, there was a plan to do away with them by 2018 but pressure groups have caused that idea to be scrapped.

No they are not pointless - no satisfactory alternative has been devised for the minority of cases where they exactly fit the bill, and no one appeared to be devising such an alternative - hence in some form they are likely to continue.

Internet banking just doesn't allow sufficient information about the payment to be passed to the payee - the reference field is far far too short

agrinnall

dzug1 wrote: »

No they are not pointless - no satisfactory alternative has been devised for the minority of cases where they exactly fit the bill, and no one appeared to be devising such an alternative - hence in some form they are likely to continue.

Internet banking just doesn't allow sufficient information about the payment to be passed to the payee - the reference field is far far too short

You may be right that in a small number of cases the alternative isn't good enough, but surely 5 years (more since it was first mooted) is long enough to either come up with one or for those people that need it now to amend their procedures to fit with what is available. We've all had to do that over the years (ATM instead of counter withdrawal, C&P instead of signature, etc.) so one more change over a lengthy period wouldn't have hurt. Still, the argument is lost for now so we'll all be able to carry on using cheques once in a blue moon for the foreseeable future.