Cashing American cheque at bank

lm1981

Over the years we have cashed American cheques (family sent over) at our U.K. bank. They take approx 6 weeks to go into bank account although sometimes it’s been much quicker.
the exchange rate is all over place at moment and the amount we are depositing in is fluctuating several thousand week to week. Does anyone know what rate they use considering if you put cheque in on day 1 and the money doesn’t show up sometimes till day 42?

gelato_cat

I think this is better answered on the Bank Accounts board so I have asked for this thread to be moved there

wmb194

lm1981 said:

Over the years we have cashed American cheques (family sent over) at our U.K. bank. They take approx 6 weeks to go into bank account although sometimes it’s been much quicker.
the exchange rate is all over place at moment and the amount we are depositing in is fluctuating several thousand week to week. Does anyone know what rate they use considering if you put cheque in on day 1 and the money doesn’t show up sometimes till day 42?

Why cheques though? I'd suggest you open a Wise USD account and have them send the money to that using its domestic American ACH* number. They should find it easy to do. You'd have it next working day.

*The US' equivalent of faster payments and Bacs.

gt94sss2

lm1981 said:

Over the years we have cashed American cheques (family sent over) at our U.K. bank. They take approx 6 weeks to go into bank account although sometimes it’s been much quicker.
the exchange rate is all over place at moment and the amount we are depositing in is fluctuating several thousand week to week. Does anyone know what rate they use considering if you put cheque in on day 1 and the money doesn’t show up sometimes till day 42?

You can pay a cheque into something like a HSBC Currency Account and keep it in USD until you want to convert it to GBP for free (via their HSBC Global Money account)

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/international/currency-account/

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/current-accounts/products/global-money/

PRAISETHESUN

I echo the comments above about separating out the process into 2 steps. Open a USD-denominated account with HSBC or Wise as outlined above to receive the USD (ideally by bank transfer), and then manage the currency conversion yourself. That way you don't get stung by huge fees and have complete control over the exchange rate used.

SiliconChip

As @wmb194 suggests by far the best option is to persuade your family in the USA to move into the 21st century and send the payments electronically rather than using a 300 year old method. It's not always possible if the payment is coming from a company who may only be willing to use cheques/checks, but from a family member there is simply no excuse not to switch.

retiredbanker1

SiliconChip said:

As @wmb194 suggests by far the best option is to persuade your family in the USA to move into the 21st century and send the payments electronically rather than using a 300 year old method. It's not always possible if the payment is coming from a company who may only be willing to use cheques/checks, but from a family member there is simply no excuse not to switch.

Much easier said than done - our friends in the USA don't really use 'wire' payments to a foreign country.

If the cheque is of substantial value then perhaps could ask the bank to open a forward exchange contract so that the  rate can be established at the beginning.
Problem is that these days the clerks will look stupid at you and not have a clue what its about - shame all the experienced ones are now retired. (LOL)

wmb194

retiredbanker1 said:

SiliconChip said:

As @wmb194 suggests by far the best option is to persuade your family in the USA to move into the 21st century and send the payments electronically rather than using a 300 year old method. It's not always possible if the payment is coming from a company who may only be willing to use cheques/checks, but from a family member there is simply no excuse not to switch.

Much easier said than done - our friends in the USA don't really use 'wire' payments to a foreign country.

If the cheque is of substantial value then perhaps could ask the bank to open a forward exchange contract so that the  rate can be established at the beginning.
Problem is that these days the clerks will look stupid at you and not have a clue what its about - shame all the experienced ones are now retired. (LOL)

An ACH transfer isn't a wire payment and it would look like a transfer to a US bank account so *should* be easy.

prettyandfluffy

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