e444had

I took a check into my normal bank and asked what rate would you give me on this check. Todays world exchange rate is 1.6123 £-$s

Their reply was 1.523 Thats a significant difference, but i know they want their share.

So I went bank shopping.

Comercia bank (as it was next door) A laughingly 1.2826 A HUGE DIFFERENCE

M&I Came up with .1 less than today's rate... BINGO! but had no clue on any fees that are charged???

I was just wondering if there are any Expats in AZ that have done more research than me on this and have found a good bank to bank British £s without getting shorted.

Karen68

I'm not in Arizona, so can't help you there, but I did used to work in the international dept. Of one of the UK High Street banks and am familiar with currency cheques - it was the other way round for us, e.g. Cheques denominated in USD.

So the first thing is that with currency, banks buy high, sell low to make their currency margins on the trade. Then there are the fees involved in the processing of the cheque. I haven't worked there for some years now, but there used to be two different ways of processing said cheques - collection and negotiation. With collection, the banks sent the cheque off to be processed and the customer depositing it got paid when the cheque cleared, which could take ages. With negotiation, the depositing customer got the money immediately but with a higher fee deducted, to cover the bank being out of funds while it was waiting to be paid by its correspondent bank. Of course, if the cheque bounced, the monies were reclaimed (if they were still in the account!)

They're really long winded to do, especially in this day and age, so perhaps the crappy rates you were offered are reflective of the banks not wanting to do the business. I know that's probably no help to you whatsoever in your current situation, and that may not be the way US banks go about it anyway, but thought I would offer it up as a possible explanation

Good luck!

frrussre

Around 20 years ago, my mother sent a £10 cheque, to my wifes nephew (NYC), his parents deposited the cheque, in their bank. I seem to remember the fee, cost them around $20-$25 + lousy exchange rate.

Needless to say, we covered the fees & the £10. Was a very expensive, deal for us. Mother was banned from sending British sterling cheques, ever ever again.

Hope it has all changed since then. GOOD LUCK.

Reg. Frank R.

md95065

Trying to deposit personal checks/cheques drawn on a foreign bank in a foreign currency has to be about the slowest, most expensive and all-round worst way of trying to move money around - just don't do it!

penguinsix

yea, it's just not worth the hassle. Can take months at times. If you have a bank account in the UK get it deposited there and then send it over via electronic means or some other transfers. Paper checks across borders is just a real pain.