Stimulus Cheque, please help - unable to cash at Nationwide bank

MNicholas

born_again said:

Ballard said:

born_again said:

Putt in a frame and hang it on the wall.

Cashing this will cause some interesting questions from the bank and also mean you get reported to the US tax authorities by the UK bank.
FATCA....

Presuming that they advised the bank that they are US citizens when they opened the account I don’t see why this would raise any awkward questions and FATCA would already be aware of them. 

Well OP parents need a new account to pay it into. So history with Nationwide is not applicable. 
Good thread her on this subject
https://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=98010.0

Thanks for the helpful link born_again!

MNicholas

DiamondLil said:

Citibank.  Pretty sure they still have USD current accounts as well as sterling

Thanks DiamondLil!

MNicholas

dahj said:

DiamondLil said:

Citibank.  Pretty sure they still have USD current accounts as well as sterling

They only deal with high net worth individuals in the UK- this may or may not apply in this case

It would be nice if they were high net worth individuals - they wouldn't have to be worried about this malarky lol

DiamondLil

My husband deposits his USD cheques into his Santander savings account. The branch won't accept them; instead they give him an address to post the cheque to. The last cheque, approx. 150.00, was a couple of months ago and the bank charged £10 for the transaction.

Dr_Crypto

Barclays used to do a USD account (not sure if they still do) but assuming they are UK based then what's the point of an account in USD when they seem to use them only irregularly. 

md258

MNicholas said:

Do people have more than one bank account these days?

Yes, most people on here will have multiple. Very useful if something (eg TSB like IT problem) happens to Nationwide.
Is the cheque in both their names or could it be an account in your father's name only?

jonesMUFCforever

MNicholas said:

jonesMUFCforever said:

No account = no chance of getting the USD cheques cashed.
Nationwide Building society made a decision some time ago to stop accepting dollar cheques. If they are not happy with Nationwide they could switch their accounts to a bank that will accept them.
As far as I am aware he could bank both cheques together and incur one charge for both cheques (based on sterling value).However he needs to get his skates on - banks will only accept foreign cheques if they are less than 5 months old giving them time to negotiate them before they go stale or out of date.

Thanks jonesMUFCforever, I wonder if they would be able to open a 2nd joint bank account then, just in order to cash the cheques. Do people have more than one bank account these days?

Indeed you can do this.
I would suggest not advising the new bank that your sole intention is to use it for depositing USD cheques - if you do you may find the door firmly shut in your face LOL Banks these days want all of your banking and some target staff to get so many 'products' from you in an interview. (If the interviewer leaves the room in the middle of an appointment it normally means they are going to ask someone senior about what they can sell you). A product will firstly be the account then add on such as an agreed overdraft, a credit card and the old favourite 'Can we quote you for Home Insurance?

Emily_Joy

MNicholas said:

John_ said:

Why not open a USD account and pay it in?

Thanks John, how would that happen? They reside only in the UK, don't you need to be actually living in the US in order to open a bank account in that country?

Nope. I am not a US resident/citizen, but I have an account with the Bank of America. I deposit cheques via online app (years ago I used to post them to a branch where I opened the account)  then I use Travel Rewards credit card for all spending, which doesn't have foreign transaction fees, and gives me some "travel reward points" for foreign spending which can be then used for hotels/flights bookings. Moreover, if you bank with HSBC, you can have a USD account (+a dozen of other currencies).

MNicholas

DiamondLil said:

My husband deposits his USD cheques into his Santander savings account. The branch won't accept them; instead they give him an address to post the cheque to. The last cheque, approx. 150.00, was a couple of months ago and the bank charged £10 for the transaction.

Thanks DiamondLil!

MNicholas

md258 said:

MNicholas said:

Do people have more than one bank account these days?

Yes, most people on here will have multiple. Very useful if something (eg TSB like IT problem) happens to Nationwide.
Is the cheque in both their names or could it be an account in your father's name only?

Thanks md258! They actually have one cheque each. They are adamant about opening another account though