Payee cashing a cheque instead of paying into an account

medave35

I would like to send my friend a gift of money. My friend has an address but no bank account. If I post them a cheque, can they receive the cash in notes from a branch of a bank rather than paying into an account?

eskbanker

No.

If you go down the cheque route then your friend could try one of the independent cheque-cashing companies that take a slice of its value as commission, or you could perhaps look at the likes of Western Union, again at a price.

How does your friend normally manage their money?

jonesMUFCforever

How does he live with out an account? Where does his wages or benefits go? If they are going into somebody else's account could you not send the money to that account to be passed on?

LobsterMemory

You could send an uncrossed postal order though I suspect the fees are quite high (which are paid by you).
Disadvantage is that if it fell into the wrong hands, they'd have no difficulty cashing it

Shakin_Steve

LobsterMemory said:

You could send an uncrossed postal order though I suspect the fees are quite high (which are paid by you).
Disadvantage is that if it fell into the wrong hands, they'd have no difficulty cashing it

Don't you have to put a payees name on a postal order? Years since I've used one, so not sure.

soulsaver

Cash by RM special delivery or RM signed for -  depending on how much. 

Owain_Moneysaver

If your bank offers Payout Now or Fast Pace cash withdrawals, you can get a pre-authorised cheque or a voucher to send to your friend, which they can cash at the Post Office. HSBC has signed up to the Fast Pace scheme, and Santander has signed up to the Payout Now scheme. There may be others now. You'd need to contact your branch.

RBS/NatWest/Ulster can issue a code over the phone which customers can give to a friend, neighbour or volunteer to withdraw an agreed amount of cash from an ATM within three hours of receiving the code. Lloyds/Halifax/Bank of Scotland customers can ask a trusted person to visit a branch with ID, withdrawals capped at £100. 

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2020/05/how-banks-are-helping-vulnerable-customers-during-the-coronavirus-crisis/