Paying foreign cheques in

[erdnase]

I pay monthly foreign cheques into my HBOS current account.

Sometimes the cheques are sent for "Collection", where they send it back to the issuing bank and I have to wait 6 weeks - and sometimes they pay it in by "Negotioation", meaning it's basically in my account in 5 days.

My cheques are in USD, and I've been cashing them monthly, problem free for well over a year. Obviously going for collection is a huge nuisance for me, and there doesn't seem to be any set criteria. I'm told at times by the bank that over 1000 sterling means it's sent for collection, and sometimes they're not. There doesn't seem to be any consistency.

I have a RBOS current account too, and will be looking into their cheque cashing schemes. Does anyone have any advice or experience with this? Wire transfers are not an option - it has to be paper cheques unfortunately.

[Leebo77]

As the customer you should be able to insist on how the cheque is cleared - either on collection or via your local banks correspondents clearing (negotiation). If it is a USD cheque drawn on a US bank then your bank should be able to clear this electronically (check21) in a few days - am sure that they will have this capability.