Cashing a sterling cheque
 

Can anyone answer this question for me? I have looked on a couple of american bank websites and can't find the answer.

I have sent a sterling banker's draft to a rental company in New York for some accommodation as they said they can't accept UK Credit cards? The rental company said a UK Bankers draft will take 5 weeks to clear, however the UK bank have advised the draft was cleared after 2 weeks and the rental company are saying the cheque still hasn't cleared.

Is this the norm? or are we being fobbed off?

Re: Cashing a sterling cheque
 

what type of UK credit card?
surely visa is visa and mastercard is mastercard, it makes no difference where it is issued??

Re: Cashing a sterling cheque
 

My guess is that you've been had. There is no difference between a UK and a US credit card, that I'm aware of, and if you pay on a credit card then they receive payment in dollars. However, if you're dealing with a dishonest company then they don't want a credit card payment, because then you can query a fraudulent charge with the card company and they will refund you and chase the company for repayment. With a banker's draft, you've effectively sent them cash. If they have cashed it after two weeks, but deny that it's cleared, I would be concerned that the company is fraudulent.

Do you know the company well? Is it a national company with a reputation? Have you done business with them before? Have you checked their record with the Better Business Bureau? What was the payment for - a service already rendered or something they will do for you in the future?

Re: Cashing a sterling cheque
 

youre being messed around - first I dont believe the Credit Card Story as Manc said a cards a card - I have lived here 8 months and because I cant get a US card I still use my UK card daily..
Second a draft takes about 10 days but the last time I did this with Abbey it only took five days and that included going through clearing with Citibank in NY

Re: Cashing a sterling cheque
 

The issue with credit cards may be due to the billing address - and the fact that you are moving. I have been caught out on this once trying to pay for something with my UK card on the internet. Its the only suggestion I can think of - otherwise as everyone says - a credit card is accepted the world over!! Maybe they just don't want to pay merchant fees.

Can you get in contact with the bank in question and confirm the 5 weeks story?

Re: Cashing a sterling cheque
 

There isn't a difference, but some places have policy to not allow it, certainly for internet transactions, there easy way of stopping credit card fraud...

Re: Cashing a sterling cheque
 

that's right, call a spade a spade.

Re: Cashing a sterling cheque
 

They may have quoted 5 weeks because that is what their bank told them - and that wouldn't be unusual. Generally the US banks quote a worst case scenario and then flag the transaction not to clear until a certain date. Some offer fast clearance for an extra fee.

They might not have wanted to accept non-US credit cards because they do address verification which generally works in the US for US addresses *however* it is worth remembering that merchants who advertise that they take Mastercard or Visa *may* be breaking their merchant agreement if they refuse to take a good card because of some internal fraud prevention precautions.