I sent a US money order (as a birthday present) to someone in the UK, who will be spending their birthday in the US. It was a TD bank order.

This person is 18 and has their own bank acct but when he went to cash it this morning, the bank he deals with told him that it would take 28 days to clear. Unfortunately this kid is coming to the states in a few weeks time.

Anyone have any suggestions? Can it be cashed at the US post office or is there a way around this

You could try phoning TD Bank here in Canada and asking them if they have any affiliations with any UK banks.

That may speed things up.

Thanks steve - will head for my bank right now. Shame though its sort of taking the excitement out of a birthday and trip to states.

For anyone who cares......any bank has the "right" to hold an international money order for 28 days because of the amount of fraud that the banks are experiencing. Wish I had known this before I sent the money order in good faith that there would be no problem cashing it.....

That’s ridiculous, I sent British pound bankers drafts every month to the UK from Td Bank and they treat the draft like a normal UK cheque because the Draft funds comes from HSBC UK, the Cashier at the bank in England doesn’t know what their talking about, which Bank is he dealing with in the UK?

I've had foreign-drawn (i.e. UK held CAD account) drafts held in Canada too, it sounds right to me.

Willmore, were you hoping your friend would be paid out in US dollar cash in the UK? Because I'm not sure that will happen, even when the draft clears

Even if paid out in GBP the friend can immediately exchange at the (UK) Post Office, no?

Yep, but I was assuming that the point of someone in Canada going to the trouble of getting a USD draft to send a friend in the UK was to get that person actual US dollar bills, and/or to fix the amount and the exchange rate, which isn't going to happen. There will have been 3 exchanges by the time they head to the post office, none of them cheap

Not wanting to sound like the incredibly stupid idiot that I am....yes biiiink you're right. In my own naive way (being the first time I have ever done this), I thought that this kid could just go to the bank and get US cash for the money order which is like a certified cheque.....I have learned something new today believe me.......

Amy - do you think that he would be able to cash it at the US post office?

Thanks for the advice everyone - really appreciate it!

Your friend can cash any USD money order at most US banks with picture ID. Bank of America is the easiest. As he is a Brit, tell him to take his passport and either picture student ID or picture UK driving license.

Thanks so much hon - I will pass your message on to my friend. Appreciate everyone's help.

I learned that one the hard way, I once agreed a price for an apartment with a Czech guy in deutschmarks, thinking I could cash my DEM cheques for actual marks at a Czech bank... boy did he go nuts when I had to pay him in mickey mouse local currency :scared:

Hope Dingbat's solution works for you - if it does, it wasn't such a daft idea at all sending US!

In case anyone is interested - my friend is not able to cash the US money order drawn on my TD account at either the Bank of America (without an account) or at the Post Office (they cash their own money orders) but no one else's. Really puts a damper on a birthday!

My own fault should have just sent the money order in pounds so the friend could cash it into his own acct in the UK and withdraw the money. Will never do this again.

Am going to the TD bank now to give them hell - surely they must have known this!

Just thinking - does he not know someone in the US with a US bank account? Maybe if they went in together and spoke to someone slightly senior than the front-desk jobs-worths, they might cash it...

Thanks hon - thats exactly what he's going to do with the friends they are visiting. Its a shame that of a small number of people who try and cash fraudulent money orders have to ruin it for others.

I must run - thanks again hon!