sending a cheque to another country

[boobesque]

can i do this? if i had a barclays cheque book could i send a cheque to, say, america? if i could, would i write it in pounds or dollars? and would the recipient be able to cash this cheque in a local bank or would they have to take it somewhere specific?
thanks guys

[Mrs_Pegasus]

Its easier and cheaper to send a money transfer. It would cost more to cash the cheque.

Try your own bank first, they normally have good rates for customers.

[Sammy Snake]

You could send a cheque to America written in sterling - the person in the US who paid it into their account would get charged for converting it into dollars and it would take about 6 weeks to clear though.

[lady_p_gold]

I often receive cheques in US dollars and my bank charges me a fee to put them into my account, but it doesn't take as long as six weeks, and if you can get the sort code and account number you can transfer it through telephone banking, US has a funny number you have to get though, can't remember what it is called. Again you will be charged and so money transfer would probably be best.

[boobesque]

the thing is, this is for a small business idea of mine and im estimating having to send quite a few cheques to quite a few people, maybe quite often, so bing glued to the phone is not preferable. is there anything other than cheques i could write and send? how much would the recipient be charged for cashing the cheque anyway?

[Mrs_Pegasus]

We send money to the US on a regular basis. Like I said our own bank was the cheaper compared to say the Post Office.

Have you looked at the possibility of Paypal?

Sending dollars through the post is something we have done for smaller amounts i.e. birthday and christmas presents but there is the obvious risk but you could ask about the cost of sending cash abroad with the Royal Mail and insure the package.

Unfortunately, there isnt a cheap way of doing it because of the obvious advantages i.e. laundering

[lady_p_gold]

I bank with Lloyds and I opened up an international account in dollars in the end, there are details on their website which might be of use.

[dzug]

Can't answer how much someone in the US would be charged for processing a sterling cheque.

However the other way round (ie depositing a US cheque in the UK) it's at least �10 and can be more depending on your bank. On a one off you might get them to waive the charge but not on a regular basis.

[oldhenry]

I am treasurer of a Society that has members in the US.
HSBC charge me �5 per US$ check, they usually give a reasonable exchange rate and it is pretty fast , a few days.
But I get people to pay two years at once to save money.
There is no cheap way, it is a Bank rip -off, butthey do have admon costs of course