agentred

Hey everyone

I'm a British citizen looking to place a deposit on an apartment in the states. However, the rental agency doesn't (for some stupid reason) accept wire transfers or credit cards (or Western Union or Paypal). They want a cheque.

Is that equivalent to sending a Draft by xe.com ? i.e. if I send the draft, will they get a cheque for American dollars through the post? That would be the easiest thing by far. Has anyone had any experience with this? I remember some posters saying they'd used xe.com but they didn't offer the details. Was it easy to use and hassle free? Did the receiver just take the draft to the bank and deposit it like a normal cheque?

I really want zero hassle, I wanna pay xe.com and have them deliver a letter saying "Dear XYZ rental company, here is a cheque in your name for $100, please treat it like any other normal cheque and deposit it in to your account". Please PLEASE tell me this is how it actually happens!

Alternatively, my bank said that I can send a cheque in Sterling from my personal account but there would be lots of fees, it would take a while and it's only possible if the American bank accepts cheques in Sterling. I could ask one of my friends in America but it's a lot of money and I don't know how comfortable they'd be doing it.

So in closing, has anyone tried xe.com? Many thanks,

BritishGuy36

Don't you know anyone over here that you can paypal the cash to, who can write a cheque for you?

Bob

paypal skimming a chunk on top?

Anyway, if the rental agency is this inept in the most basic of functions, getting paid, that would set alarm bells on them being able to do anything else personally, so I'd look else where...

agentred

Yeah sending a friend the money via Pay Pal is a solution, but it's ranked very low on my list of preferences (the hassle, the fees, the time).

I think the xe.com solution will be fine as long as it's easy and painless on their end.

And yes they do seem a little inept but I know people who've stayed in their apartments and had a good experience, so if I can get over this hurdle it should be fine.

Dan725

I've not done it, but your xe.com way sounds a decent bet.

The other option would be to have your UK bank cut you a US dollar check, which you can then mail....but in all honesty, XE would likely have better rates.

Jerseygirl

They probably don't know what you mean by a wire transfer that's why they won't accept it.

Ask them for their banking details and tell them you will have the money transferred to their bank account in US dollars.

The quickest way is to get your UK bank to make a wire transfer to their bank account. XE etc seem to be OK but they need time to set your initial account up and the money takes longer to transfer. I've transferred money in the afternoon via my bank and it's been there the next morning...but I would normally allow 48 hours.

crosscountryrider

Hello,
you can also do a Wire transfer wirth your own bank (takes 24 hours max.)
if you can get the details for the corresponding account here in the USA>

Wells Fargo will give you a account without SSN and they are directly linked
with RBOS and NATWEST.
I will cost GBP 25 in UK and $10 in the states .You can transfer in Sterling
or USD.

Also please make sure that you don't transfer more than $10.000.

Everyting above this amount will be held by the bank for at least 48 hours
because of the "Patriot act".

I did this several times and it works perfect and safe.

Kind regards
CCR

agentred

Thanks for the responses everyone.

I did explain what a wire transfer is and ask them for their bank account details AND told them I'd transfer the money in dollars but they wouldn't budge. I think the average age at the office is 'fossilized' so they're a little behind the curve.

CCR I don't understand what you mean. Do you mean set up an American bank account from the UK and then wire transfer? That sounds great but I don't know how to do that, how would I open a Wells Fargo account from the UK? I can't do it on-line. Should I ask at an RBS/Natwest branch?

Thanks for your help!

crosscountryrider

I asked from UK and called Wells Fargo directly (0800-)
Maybe you will need to fax your passport into a local branch buts it's usually very easy.

They serve a lot of soldiers overseas.
Kind Regards
CCr

lansbury

More likely they will not accept them because of what it will cost them.

There is often a $30+ intermediary bank fee and anything from $10 up fee at the receiving bank.

I know some of the currency brokers cover the intermediary fee but do they do that if you are sending money to a third party?

lansbury

There is a Wells Fargo office in London

U.K.
+44 207 1497233
+44 207 1498393/4
[email protected]
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Local Time

crosscountryrider

goods to know if I ever ned it

BritishGuy36

Really not that much of a chunk, as a one-off.

What hassle? You'd be done in 3 minutes. Email the cash to your friend with the address of who to send the cheque to.

Jerseygirl

I forgot about that...I would think it's worth the OP offering to pay the extra fees just to get it over with and secure himself somewhere to live.

agentred

I would love to pay whichever fees are necessary and skip the complications but they've rejected the wire transfer idea completely . Further, I don't wanna push it too much in case they decide to release a large family of cockroaches in to my apartment-to-be.

On the bright side, I just signed up to xe.com and activating my account was a very painless and fast procedure (so far). Just a few scans and a telephone conversation and I should be hot to trot by 10am tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the replies, I'll keep the thread updated for future users in the same situation.