12 weeks to clear a cheque
Discussion
Ok, so i sent ms tinman a cheque 3 weeks ago. shes in the states, i'm here and it was a sterling cheque.
no problem i thought, i've cashed big $ checks here in the past and its a simple form a 5-10 day wait for the money to clear. should be the same in the states.
she sticks it in her bank and thinks nothing of it. two weeks later i'm looking at the account trying to account for my wealth thinking along the lines of "i had a good month"...and then it occured to me. no ms tinman cheque to be seen. drat.
a quick call, and shes equally perplexed. so she calls her bank. "oh" they said "weren't you told? it take 8 weeks for a foreign check to clear. Is there anything else I can help you with - have a nice day." - she was not happy. so she called her other bank to see what they would say.
"foreign checks take 12 weeks to clear - once the Fed gets it, and that may be a week after our head office get the cheque for processing".
13 weeks in fact to clear a cheque!
no problem i thought, i've cashed big $ checks here in the past and its a simple form a 5-10 day wait for the money to clear. should be the same in the states.
she sticks it in her bank and thinks nothing of it. two weeks later i'm looking at the account trying to account for my wealth thinking along the lines of "i had a good month"...and then it occured to me. no ms tinman cheque to be seen. drat.
a quick call, and shes equally perplexed. so she calls her bank. "oh" they said "weren't you told? it take 8 weeks for a foreign check to clear. Is there anything else I can help you with - have a nice day." - she was not happy. so she called her other bank to see what they would say.
"foreign checks take 12 weeks to clear - once the Fed gets it, and that may be a week after our head office get the cheque for processing".
13 weeks in fact to clear a cheque!
US banks are a bit peculiar. Every one has their own processes. Most of the larger ones don't even use the Fed (they have their own clearing house). if it is a smaller "community" style bank or a credit union, yes, it will take longer to clear. If, in fact, it is a larger bank, they put a "hold" on the funds strictly for monetary gain. Banks can gain overnight interest by placing just a 24 hour hold after the funds have cleared. Not much for you and I, but for the billions in overnight interest that the banks float, it's real money.
If you care to specify which bank she is with, I can probably tell you their processes.
ErnestM
If you care to specify which bank she is with, I can probably tell you their processes.
ErnestM
ErnestM said:
US banks are a bit peculiar. Every one has their own processes. Most of the larger ones don't even use the Fed (they have their own clearing house). if it is a smaller "community" style bank or a credit union, yes, it will take longer to clear. If, in fact, it is a larger bank, they put a "hold" on the funds strictly for monetary gain. Banks can gain overnight interest by placing just a 24 hour hold after the funds have cleared. Not much for you and I, but for the billions in overnight interest that the banks float, it's real money.
If you care to specify which bank she is with, I can probably tell you their processes.
ErnestM
penair was 12 weeks.
I've just been stung by this. Done a few jobs for a big US company. Took bloody ages getting paid and then a USD check arrives. My bank charges me £10 per check and their bank takes 28 days and charges me $20 on top!? Should I be asking them to pay in Sterling or just adding a 'handling fee' on top of my invoice to cover these costs?
Gruffy
Gruffy
garyhun said:
When you can clear a house quicker than a cheque you know it just aint right
this problem with the cheque is exactly for that purpose. closing is the end of the month and there is no chance cleared funds will be available.
yesterday was one of those panic days where things got cancelled and redone so we can wire the cash next week.
tinman0 said:
When you can clear a house quicker than a cheque you know it just aint right
this problem with the cheque is exactly for that purpose. closing is the end of the month and there is no chance cleared funds will be available.
yesterday was one of those panic days where things got cancelled and redone so we can wire the cash next week.
Hope it all works out!
Right...
FWIW - there are other ways of getting money back and forth in this day and age. International wire transfers are one. There are also other tricks but probably one of the easiest is the "quick cash advance" trick.
Have her get a cash advance for the amount on a Visa/Mastercard and then immediately go to your bank (or online as the case may be) and pay the cash advance off in full.
Remember that there are always going to be fees involved when you deal with banks. That's because, other than renting money, fees are the bank's biggest cash cow. The trick is to choose the method by which you can get access to the funds at the speed that you need the funds.
ErnestM
FWIW - there are other ways of getting money back and forth in this day and age. International wire transfers are one. There are also other tricks but probably one of the easiest is the "quick cash advance" trick.
Have her get a cash advance for the amount on a Visa/Mastercard and then immediately go to your bank (or online as the case may be) and pay the cash advance off in full.
Remember that there are always going to be fees involved when you deal with banks. That's because, other than renting money, fees are the bank's biggest cash cow. The trick is to choose the method by which you can get access to the funds at the speed that you need the funds.
ErnestM
Gruffy said:
I've just been stung by this. Done a few jobs for a big US company. Took bloody ages getting paid and then a USD check arrives. My bank charges me £10 per check and their bank takes 28 days and charges me $20 on top!? Should I be asking them to pay in Sterling or just adding a 'handling fee' on top of my invoice to cover these costs?
Gruffy
£10 per cheque here is fine, but how on earth can the US bank charge another 20 bucks on top?
My last foreign cheque cost £8 at LTSB and took about 2 weeks to clear. I got the £8 back after moaning at them as well hehe.
mcflurry said:
some stuff
£10 per cheque here is fine, but how on earth can the US bank charge another 20 bucks on top?
My thoughts exactly. A client pays me with a cheque and then they charge me $20 bucks (per bloody cheque) to cash it. Quite unbelieveable.
Just wondering if there was another alternative when it comes to the business world? I don't feel I can ask my client to use PayPal
Gruffy
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