Can I depost a US$ cheque into a German bank?

Hi everyone,

Hope you can help me with this one, I have a US dollar cheque made out
to myself, how do I go about having it put into my German account, without
needing to go into the bank, as they are always closed when I finish work

I dont have a $ account and cannot change the cheque!!! and I am with the
Deutsch Bank.

thanks
alwayshappy...

you're a SOL. you can't cash $ private check's at a german bank. the only option is to sign it, send it to your bank and deposit it in your, i presume u.s. account, and withdraw the money from here. if it's a certified check, then you'll have to go to the bank, with i.d. sorry, but looks like you're taking a late lunch or a few hours off or still a SOL.

Problem is, I cashed in some shares, and the cheque is in US $, can I
deposit it in my German account, I know I will have to pay commision
etc, but is it possible???

And looks like I will need to go into the Deutsch Bank personally

Yes you can deposit a US$ cheque in your German account. You do need to go there personally w/ id and you will be charged commission.

To avoid the hassle, I have a US Citibank account and a German CitiBank account, which has the advantage that there are no fees if cheques are from the same bank, also wire transfers are for free form one CitiBank account to another anywhere in the world.

Depending on how much the check is for and how soon you need the money, a good alternative to avoid high fees is:
1) send the deposit to your U.S. account
2) withdraw the cash here in EUR with your ATM card
3) deposit the cash in your German account

Assuming a German bank would actually deposit a $US check into your German account, it's probably gonna cost you...

As mentioned, Citibank is also a great alternative as a long term solution.

Taking the check when cashing your shares was not a good move. The German banks can take months to process a US$ checque, even if its a big institution like DB. You should have asked your broker to wire the money to your german account. At DB, it took over 1 year to cash a stupid check for a friend of mine last year. It looks all nice when you go in person to the bank, they do the paperwork, and charge you something like 25Euro fee. You may even see the amount in your account when you look at your balance. Little do they tell you that it's "virtual". My colleague made a big purchase last year thinking the funds were there because it said so online. He got a call from the bank telling him he went negative. Months went by, the check never validated (and they don't call you to let you know!). In the end, DB instucted the issuing bank to cancel the check and wire the money, which took 3 days, and cost the same. 6 months later, DB charged a fine for the check that bounced (the one they told to cancel!). Pricks

When you have the choice to wire money or take a check, wire when possible. All you need the IBAN# of your bank, or the SWIFT code of your bank. You would think that in 2004 that checks from US banks would move nicely to the EU! not the case.

If its just transferring money from an account overseas, use your ATM card

Never had any problem with US$ cheques (or even checks), including personal, corporate or cashier checks. Regularly take them to the bank (both local Kreissparkasse or national Dresdner), sign on the back and hand over. Money available in the bank account the next day. Exchange rate is the commercial published rate plus a few Euros on top. For $1000 or so I pay about 15 Euros for larger amounts it's usually 20-30 Euros...

My bank did tell me that they reserve the right to reclaim the money if the check/cheque bounces (none did so far!), but they always confirm successful clearance, usually 8-10 days later. They can provide "express" (2-day) clearance but it's very expensive and I always trusted the check issuer.

For incoming amounts over 10,000 Euros you are required to complete a statistical form from the Bundesbank... It's a legal requirement to complete this form, but it's purely (they say!) for statistical purposes.

Same goes for other currencies, I never had any problems with Australian, Canadian or Hong Kong dollar cheques nor with sterling...

YL6

I deposited a cheque made out in Canadian Dollars into my Dresdner account. The fees they charged were almost half the amount of the cheque.

I deposited a US$ cheque at a Deutsche Bank branch on Friday. By this afternoon (the following Monday) it had been credited to my account.

$183 converted to €124 minus €16 in processing fees.

Note that you only have the money pending the cheque being cleared by the originating bank. If it subsequently bounces it'll be whipped out of your account (with additional costs) in an instant. Final clearance can take 2-3 weeks. I had a cheque (for many 000's of $) bounce on me a few years back - the money simply disappeared out of my bank about 4 weeks after the deposit, and it took 3-4 days for the bank to actually advise me, during which time my account was seriously overdrawn and other automated payments started bouncing. As it happens the "bounce" turned out to be simple mistake (because of the value the cheque should have had a second counter-signature which was missing), and the my bank were actually helpful in sorting out the subsequent mess, but be warned...

Thanks for the warning. I have quite a few million in my bank account though, so if the €124 bounces then it shouldn't do any harm.

with a couple of millions in a bank account, Bob, you should seriously consider joining the investment club Conquistador tries to get together in Munich in order to learn how to generate more yield.

Cheerio

Pesos aren't what they used to be, though.

So I can just write myself a check from my american checkbook and take it into the Sparkasse and deposit it into my account here?? I thought I would have to wire it or use the atm every day to get money over. ??? Seems to be some conflicting info here or I'm not understanding correctly..

Indeed you can. You might find the charges (to deposit the cheque) are higher, but you have the advantage that the Euros are spendable before the dollars leave your home bank. No conflicting info at all.