Clearing a Euro cheque in the UK

WadeyRed

I have brought a large euro cheque back from Europe. It is a guaranteed cheque (i.e. the equivalent of a banker's draft) and I have taken out a Euros/International Account with my UK Bank, and sent them the cheque.

However, they have now said they need to 'collect' this amount from the foreign bank, which entails sending them the cheque, for verification. And this could take 4-8 weeks, before it credits my International account! Absolutely unacceptable.

Does anyone know an alternative product or way I could get this cheque cleared quicker?

Thanks.

dzug1

Get the cheque cancelled and do a bank transfer

opinions4u

A cheque uses 19th century systems to clear.

An international bank transfer from within the EU (plus one or two others) will hit your account on the next working day.

So get the person who owes you the money to send it electronically.

catokelly

Euro cheques are very difficult to cash in the UK, also the bank will usually offer poor rates and charge hefty admin fees and the cheque takes several weeks to clear.

To get the best return for the Euros you are better off to encourage the person who issued the cheque to transfer the Euros instead... if you use an international money transfer specialist they can convert the Euros to Pounds at much better rates than banks and the whole process can be done in as little as 48 hours compared to several weeks waiting for the cheque to clear!

dzug1

Another thought - it's possible that your bank may (for an extra fee of course) offer an 'express' clearance

jonesMUFCforever

dzug1 wrote: »

Another thought - it's possible that your bank may (for an extra fee of course) offer an 'express' clearance

Not for international cheques.

UK clearance centre for Euro cheques closed many years ago due to nobody using it.
I agree that an electronic transfer is the quickest way here.
Otherwise if the bank decides it does not trust OP with recourse of funds should the cheque be returned unpaid then he has to wait until it is collected.