Cashing of UK cheques in Germany

I've a friend who owes me some cash and says he can't transfer the money with HSBC online banking to my account here. So he said he'd send me a cheque instead. Would I have any problems with cashing this here into my account?

It will cost you an arm and a leg, thats for sure.

Banks used to charge up to the equivalent of about 20 euro in "handling fees" for the old EC Eurocheques... I'd hate to see what they would charge for an ordinary cheque nowadays.

Why can't he go into his bank branch and transfer it from there??

Ouch!

Ah, he's a lazy git! Think I'll get him to move his ass and go into the bank!

cheques are practically unknown here in Germany. The bank will probably charge a hefty fee for such a strange transaction (and ask if they can place the cheque in a glass case in the national banking museum afterwards).

why cant he just make a direct debit transfer. So much simpler.

It'd probably be cheaper to have him fly over on SleazyJet and put the cash in your hand.

German Banks stopped using cheques in January 2002. I deposited a large cheque a couple of months later and was charged a 20 Euro fee. I expect it has increased since then. If you use a bank transfer you will be charged fees both in the UK and Germany.

If it is less than GBP 500 then he could send online via Western Union. Charge for 500 GBP would be GBP 37.

You should be able to collect at any of these places.

Not exactly true. Many companies, and the Finanzamt still tend to use cheques when refunding monies.
Any time I have de-registered my car in Germany, I have always received tax refunds in the form of a Verrechnungsscheck (crossed cheque)


Me thinks you have got national cheques mixed with the Eurocheque.
The Eurocheque was a cross-border cheque, done away with in 2002 in favour of cross-border electronic payments. If National cheques were done away with, then someone at the Deutsche Bank has been asleep, 'cos I've cashed in a number of the things since 2002 - the last one in November 2005

Yes you are right, I meant Eurocheques. The bank stopped issuing them for customers use in 2002, they are no longer valid for paying for goods.

After the amount of scams I have heard about -particularly on sites like Autoscout24 or ebay- involving Western Union, I would personally avoid using that crowd...

That's nothing to do with the Western Union system itself. Jester is not at risk since he is not exchanging money for goods or services. He is receiving the money, not sending it. Western Union is just a remote way of sending cash. Not good for Ebay but good for transferring money quickly to family or friends in distant places and much more secure than posting cash. ;-) When you receive the ID number from the sender you can collect the cash at any Western Union agent. If the ID number is false then you don't get the money...i.e. they still owe you the money just the same as is the case previously...

And the advantage is, the lazy git can do it online with a credit card. So he doesn't even need to get off his arse. I wonder what his excuse will be this time...

Or what about using PayPal? Assuming both of you have PayPal!

Thats true. I too have received cheques from the Finanzamt for tax refunds (ah those were the days). But domestic customers hardly seem to use them or come across them otherwise. Bank accounts dont come with them.

Bloody hell. looks expensive no matter which way it's done!
He's going to his local branch to do it. Can't see that being a problem, prob cost him a bit though.
Why is it so expensive, can't just be the exchange rate? I've transferred money recently to Ireland from here and it cost nothing with my online banking.
Is there any expense involved in withdrawing money from your Paypal a/c?
Not sure if he has one but I have, good option that I didn't think of, only ever used it for paying for whatever.

sounds a bit suss to me, if he banks online of course he can pay the money in to your account.

Have you stil got a GB account ??
Have it paid in there !!

I think a lot of people are asleep at Deutsche Bank. I could tell some stories about the cock-ups Ive had with my account there over the years!

Nah, no GB account.
The Western Union transfer looks interesting. I've an a/c here with Postbank who handle these transfers so would be easy to get the cash and put it in there. Has anyone used it?
What's the process and fees like?

For Western Union costs and Info... look here (bottom right of new window).

I get paid by a number of companies not based in Germany, primarily the USA and the UK, and they do transfers from their bank to mine and each transaction costs me E12-E15 which kind of annoys me as I'm putting money into their bank which they are using to invest to make a profit. I used to get paid by a company in Florida who were based in Nevada for tax reasons and they used to send me a check each time which I had to pay in. The amounts were always different and the bank used to question them (they were reasonably high) as they thought I was either doing something dodgy or was a gambler in Las Vegas. What really pisses me off about my bank is that when I'm in the red they charge me extortionate interest (I have a business overdraft which has a higher interest rate) but when I'm in the black they're all over me with offers to invest my money.

From online banking in my HSBC account, I can make transfers to other HSBC banks, other UK banks and banks anywhere. I think you need the IBAN details.

Somebody in England has owed me 600 pounds for absolutely ages. Getting him to pay up's been like getting blood out of a stone. Finally, finally he agreed to pay. I asked him to either wire the money to my bank account or send it Western Union. So what does he go and do? He's sent a cheque in pounds sterling on his Barclays account. I have a current account here in Berlin at Postbank and another one at Landesbank. However, I don't have a current account or any account in England anymore. Is there anything at all I can do with this cheque?? Will German banks accept UK cheques? I could send the cheque back to him and ask him to wire the money to my bank in Germany but since it's taken over a year to even get the cheque out of him, that would really be a last resort! Any advice would be very gratefully received Thanks.

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Your bank will almost certainly accept a cheque made out in Sterling, but will very likely apply a hefty charge for doing so. Ask about paying in a check in a 'Fremdwährung' (foreign currency).

As you say it took ages to get this money, if you have relatives in the UK, it may be worth sending them the check and getting the money off them. Compare the cost of making a transfer to your German account via them vs. the cost of paying the Sterling cheque directly into your German bank account.

Thanks for your response, Guy. I'll try paying it into my bank. Hopefully it won't take like 6 months for them to clear it!

MY bank wanted to charge me 15E to deposit a 25E Irish Cheque. And that after the Irish bank issued a 'special' cheque especially for European clients...

I just deposited a US check in my Deutsche Bank account a couple weeks ago. They told me it could take up to a month to clear, but the charges ended up being less than if the money had been wired. And in the end it took the checks a whole 3 days to clear, so the money was accessible just about as quickly as if it had been wired.

The bank should be able to give you a schedule of fees on cashing a foreign check (from another currency) vs having the money wired (and in the process converted to Euros). Then you can work out for yourself what your better option is. My bank even told gave me the info over the phone. Took about five minutes and saved me the trip.

The way I worked it out, it was actually better to deposit larger amounts by check than the wire transfer method. Smaller amounts were slightly cheaper by wire transfer. Of course, you have the whole aspect that the money could take up to a month to clear, but if that's not an issue...

Thanks Ben. And quite possibly since this is a UK cheque it won't take as long as a month to clear. I'll go into the bank tomorrow and see what I can find out!

Your German bank will accept the cheque and clear the funds "unter Vorbehalt" into your account 3-5 working days, but that does not necessarily mean the cheque itself has cleared. If you have any reason to believe the cheque is of the rubbery variety you should wait at least 3-4 weeks before actually spending the money, as if it does bounce you may get a nasty shock (and possibly additional charges to repay the money). Alternatively ask for "Scheckinkasso" which means you only actually get the money in your account when the cheque clears at the other end and the bank actually has received the funds.

Hmm. I paid in a UK cheque to my German bank account three weeks and one day ago. The person who issued me the cheque is a trusted family member and the amount has already been debited from his account. Yet my bank here in Germany has still not cleared the cheque. WHen I deposited it, they told me it'd take about 2 weeks to clear. I went in there to enquire yesterday and a frosty woman told me she could not help me and to go away and be patient.

How long does this stuff normally take?

Already shot through your whole book deposit advance Bella? That has to be some sort of record!

the bank's already made a charge for cashing the cheque but not actually yet cashed it. interesting.

As of July the charge per foreign check is 20 euros each at Dresdner. Information they don't volunteer, by the way. Takes about a month to clear.

Ahh, I have just been a sent a cheque from my mother and I was just wondering if the infomation here is still up to date. My mum lives in the middle of nowhere in England and hardly ever goes to a bank, no internet access, etc. (I doubt she knows what western union is too). Any other ways of getting money sent over in the post?

Well, cash. Or some form of international money order, but the charges are likely to be similar. Do you not have an account in the UK still that the cheque can be paid into?

Well it was too late for that STB, she had already sent it - but some good news, the bank here - the only bank around here - is Volksbank, and they charged 11 euros and it took 5 days to clear. That isin't bad.

I've just opened a bank account in Germany and I have received 2 cheques from the UK for refunds on gas and electric supplies at my old house. Can I pay these cheques into my new bank in Germany or do I have to post them home?

You might be able to pay them into your German account, but they will charge you for it. Probably better to post them back to the UK if you still have an account there.

I have just received a tax return cheque from the UK and it has my German address on it.
I just wanted to know whether a UK bank would still accept this cheque, or will I need to cash it here in Germany?
Also if I have to cash it in Germany, does anyone have experience of cashing UK cheques here, and specifically with postbank?

Thanks

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As it is made out in Liz Windsor funny money, it will be too much hassle to cash it here.
Just bung it in a UK bank account innit.

lol. "Liz Windsor funny money", that is the best one I've heard all week.

I understand that it would be hassle, but how much? What is the process and possible cost?

Whoa, lemme ask you how long you had to wait for it (the tax return) while we're at it

post bank didnt except by ££££ cheque, tell me if you're luckier there?

Well I wrote them a letter on the 1st of May telling them about the fact that they owed me money. And then a week ago I got another letter from them saying that a repayment would following shortly, along with the copy of my p45 I sent them. And today I go the return. So a bit more than a month and a half in all.

Well I just phoned up Barclays and they said that they can still cash the cheque. Which makes sense really, because it may not be the case that you receive every cheque to the address that you registered with at the bank.

So I am just going to get my brother to cash it for me in the UK

still waiting for mine, was just wondering how long its likely to take when living abroad

So postbank didn't accept actual cash from you? or they didn't accept a cheque from you? Because I bank with them and it would be good to know.

cash is king anywhere, no they didnt like the cheque, coz it wasnt an international / eu whatever format but just a standard british one.

cashed a sterling cheque in my commerzbank account, they charged me about 12€.

Sounds about right; it shouldn't be any problem paying a Sterling cheque into a German bank account, providing you have an account with them. I've not come across a cheque with an address on it before, so I'm not really sure whether your British bank will accept it or not.

I've had German and UK cheques in the past with the dress printed on the cheque where it doubles as the adress label in a windowed envelope.
But a bank will take it based on the name alone.

What is the difference between a sterling cheque and a hand written one? Or is there no difference? Is just that lyn said that postbank rejected their one?


Yep this is exactly the case with my cheque. The address doubles as an address label in a window envelope.

Er, sterling is the currency. You know, pounds, pence, apples, pears; that kind of thing.