Cashing a large US Dollar cheque in UK

Gezstar

I repeatedly have this problem. I receive payouts from a US pension fund which I need to credit to a US dollar account I hold with Citibank UK. The Pension fund cant handle a direct transfer and insist on sending cheques. Worse, the payout comes in 3 parts, so they send 3 cheques. I mail them to Citibank, who mail them back to a US intermediary bank and it takes 4-6 weeks. More important I get charged $120 PER CHEQUE. To make it worse, a year ago they incorrectly deducted US Tax, which I had to claim back from the IRS. Its taken a year to get it, and now I have another cheque to cash - the one from the IRS - they too could not handle a direct credit to a UK bank.
Any ideas of how to improve this setup? I have tried various possibilities, including trying to set up a bank or investment account in the US (money laundering rules make this impossible).

jonesMUFCforever

Gezstar wrote: »

I repeatedly have this problem. I receive payouts from a US pension fund which I need to credit to a US dollar account I hold with Citibank UK. The Pension fund cant handle a direct transfer and insist on sending cheques. Worse, the payout comes in 3 parts, so they send 3 cheques. I mail them to Citibank, who mail them back to a US intermediary bank and it takes 4-6 weeks. More important I get charged $120 PER CHEQUE. To make it worse, a year ago they incorrectly deducted US Tax, which I had to claim back from the IRS. Its taken a year to get it, and now I have another cheque to cash - the one from the IRS - they too could not handle a direct credit to a UK bank.
Any ideas of how to improve this setup? I have tried various possibilities, including trying to set up a bank or investment account in the US (money laundering rules make this impossible).

Move to America? :D

Gezstar

Move back? Under their present government? You're joking!
Seriously, some advice that someone may find useful : My big mistake was to close the US bank account that I held while living there. I thought I was simplifying my life, but its had the reverse effect. I could legally have kept it after moving back to Europe and transfers would have been easy, but now I cant reopen it or open a new one.

MiketheMan

Just did a 'quick' (had to wait 15 minutes for NatWest to answer the phone but...) comparison of NatWest versus Bank of Ireland. Although Bank of Ireland has a worse exchange rate, they don't charge a fee. NatWest's is 2.75%. On a deposit of $40,000 I'm £500 better off going through Bank of Ireland so I guess I'll e opening an account with them.

The Post Office are affiliated with BofI so I'm going to try them next as you can bank over the counter with them, which will be more convenient.

I have to say that transferring pension funds from the US is proving to be painful at every step - two years and still no moolah!

John-K_3

I received a cheque for about $50,000 dollars, paid by acitigroup, which aimwanted to pay into my USD account. As well as having to wait six weeks for them to post it back to the US to clear (what did they mean by clear, it was written by them, did they honestly expect that it could bounce), they charged me something like $50 for the privilege.

I pointed out that it was settling a debt that they owed me, that they themselves had refused to do a transfer into the account that I had with them, and somthis fee meant that they had failed to fully settle the debt, but they had no interest in any of that.

The US banking system seems to be a long way behind the UK!!!8217;s in general.

As a plus, I was able to walk into a branch in L.A. And open an account with minimal fuss straight away, as they are miles behind in terms of anti money-laundering too.

Gezstar

Did you have a US address (and perhaps a formal residency in the US?) when the bank in LA agreed to open an account ? I have not been able to (re-)open one from the UK, except that I have been told by HSBC that they could open one there for me if I first set up a UK account with them that would establish my credentials.

jonesMUFCforever

MiketheMan wrote: »

Just did a 'quick' (had to wait 15 minutes for NatWest to answer the phone but...) comparison of NatWest versus Bank of Ireland. Although Bank of Ireland has a worse exchange rate, they don't charge a fee. NatWest's is 2.75%. On a deposit of $40,000 I'm £500 better off going through Bank of Ireland so I guess I'll e opening an account with them.

The Post Office are affiliated with BofI so I'm going to try them next as you can bank over the counter with them, which will be more convenient.

I have to say that transferring pension funds from the US is proving to be painful at every step - two years and still no moolah!

You have either asked Nat West the wrong question or they misunderstood what you wanted - if you follow the link below it tells you what the charges are for cheque negotiation or collection


https://personal.natwest.com/personal/ways-to-bank/online-banking/do-more-with-online-banking/sending-money-abroad/Receiving-funds.html

Tab down to the part 'Paying in a foreign cheque'.
The charge is fixed according to the sterling equivalent but is nowhere near 2.75%
That sounds like a charge you would incur if use one of their cards abroad.

Gezstar

Under "Payment by collection" the NatWest website says "These cheques are subject to additional fees levied by that (the issuers) bank". That sounds like the $160 that Citibank charge me per cheque, saying they have no choice but to pass on the cost. $160 + £30 fee+ £3.60 postage on $5000 would be over 4% ! Less of course for larger sums.

amynicole

Probably not so much a large US dollar cheque...
My savings bonds from when I was a kid have reached maturity and I'd like to cash them into my UK account. It's not a lot of money but could help with a deposit on a car or starting an ISA.

BUT I don't have a US bank account anymore. I have kept my US drivers license and I'm going to visit my parents in July. Is it best is if I can see if I can open an account my own or shared with my dad and cash it there? Or is it worth trying to do it out of the UK?

jonesMUFCforever

amynicole wrote: »

Probably not so much a large US dollar cheque...
My savings bonds from when I was a kid have reached maturity and I'd like to cash them into my UK account. It's not a lot of money but could help with a deposit on a car or starting an ISA.

BUT I don't have a US bank account anymore. I have kept my US drivers license and I'm going to visit my parents in July. Is it best is if I can see if I can open an account my own or shared with my dad and cash it there? Or is it worth trying to do it out of the UK?

Are you a resident of UK now?
If not you can't open or replenish an ISA.
Are we talking about a foreign currency cheque here or sterling?