HSBC UK & paying in Australian $ cheque

Hall0982

I opened a HSBC account as I was receiving a cheque from my Australian pension fund (they don’t do transfers) & my existing bank doesn’t accept them. I went into the branch (full service cashier) & they said the cheque had to be sent off to be processed. This is fine however I was then told there is no way to discuss this once it’s deposited which just doesn’t seem right to be or sit comfortable. All I want to know is, was the cheque received & is it being paid by negotiation or collection & no one can tell me. The branch were as good as useless & I have called telephone banking & they have sent a memo to the relevant team (the process for international cheques apparently) but still not hearing anything back. Any advice or insights? I know if the cheque is being sent for collection it can be weeks but I also don’t understand why it is collection not negotiation 🤷🏼‍♀️

WillPS

It's a long, slow process, often involving cheques being physically sent around the world. There's not really anything more you can do than sit tight.

wmb194

Hall0982 said:

I opened a HSBC account as I was receiving a cheque from my Australian pension fund (they don’t do transfers) & my existing bank doesn’t accept them. I went into the branch (full service cashier) & they said the cheque had to be sent off to be processed. This is fine however I was then told there is no way to discuss this once it’s deposited which just doesn’t seem right to be or sit comfortable. All I want to know is, was the cheque received & is it being paid by negotiation or collection & no one can tell me. The branch were as good as useless & I have called telephone banking & they have sent a memo to the relevant team (the process for international cheques apparently) but still not hearing anything back. Any advice or insights? I know if the cheque is being sent for collection it can be weeks but I also don’t understand why it is collection not negotiation 🤷🏼‍♀️

There’s nothing you can do, you just have to count yourself lucky that HSBC is still offering this service.

Is there really no way the pension fund can transfer the money electronically? Does Wise offer a AUD account with local, Australian bank details? I don’t have one but to answer my own question it looks like it does:

https://wise.com/help/articles/2879660/how-do-i-use-my-aud-account-details

Hall0982

Thanks both, I know if it’s collection it’s long and slow & that’s ok but as this stage there is no way I even know it’s been received & they haven’t confirmed that they are doing it by collection when everything I’ve read shows it could have been by negotiation so that was more my issue around how I even get that confirmation 

sausage_time

Upvote for Wise if the pension company are willing to pay into Australian "bank" details. 

PRAISETHESUN

Can confirm that Wise do offer AUD accounts, with local BSB + account numbers for receiving electronic payments. That would be my preferred option as opposed to a cheque, which will takes forever to clear, and likely get ripped off on the exchange rate. I'm surprised your superannuation provider hasn't offered an option to do this.

Hall0982

Thanks they would transfer electronically to a domestic account just not international - I no longer had and Australian bank account so that’s why the cheque was my only option (or so I though) knew nothing about Wise. Thanks will look into them but now they have issued the same cheque unsure if they will cancel 🤷🏼‍♀️

Miles86

You should get a notification when the processing centre deal with the cheque, stating whether it's being negotiated or collected 

Other than that if it hasn't been credited to your account within a week it's safe to assume it's being collected.