Euro bankers draft, how to cash

Christine113

Hi
Acting as executor for my father I have now got 2 bankers drafts for his grand children in excess of 10,00 euros (lived in Spain and would only issue bankers drafts to the grand children).
They have now been told it will take 6 weeks to clear and they cannot be told the rate untill the transaction has been completed ?
I would like advice on what I can do to ensure they get a decent rate, one suggestion is open a curency accounrt for £60 at the bank and keep in euros then change when I they can get the money in euros.
This will still take 6 weeks, any advice from the forum or someone who has been through this before would be apreciated.
Christine

catokelly

Euro bank drafts are very difficult to cash in the UK, also the bank will usually offer poor rates and charge hefty admin fees and the cheque will take several weeks to clear because the bank has to physically post it to the issuing bank .

To get the best return for the Euros you are better off to encourage the lawyer/issuer of the bank draft to wire the Euros to you instead... and 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!

jonesMUFCforever

catokelly wrote: »

Euro bank drafts are very difficult to cash in the UK, also the bank will usually offer poor rates and charge hefty admin fees and the cheque will take several weeks to clear because the bank has to physically post it to the issuing bank .

To get the best return for the Euros you are better off to encourage the lawyer/issuer of the bank draft to wire the Euros to you instead... and 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!

Post 1 states only a draft can be issued.
Secondly to get a wired payment the draft would have to be returned before any new payment could be made.
This could take some time.
If the drafts are made out to the children I really think the best option is for them to be paid into their bank account - if they are under 18 they have no legal right to enter into a contract with any forex dealer. 6 week s is the time it normally takes for a foreign cheque to be collected.

Graham1

Citibank in London are reasonably quick for clearing foreign currency cheques deposited into a currency current account there. I think it is about 2½ weeks for U.S. dollars, so Euro should be similar. Whether it is worth opening an account just for this purpose is debatable.

jonesMUFCforever

Graham1 wrote: »

Citibank in London are reasonably quick for clearing foreign currency cheques deposited into a currency current account there. I think it is about 2½ weeks for U.S. dollars, so Euro should be similar. Whether it is worth opening an account just for this purpose is debatable.

I don't think they would want to get involved.
If the cheques are made out to the grandchildren they will not be able to open a currency account.
We don't know if this is the case as OP has not updated this thread.