75euro to lodge an American cheque with Permanent TSB!!!

door

I just went into Permanent TSB where I have a business account and they told me it would cost 75euro to lodge an US Dollar cheque with them! (Other similar charges for all foreign cheques except sterling)

The cheque values less than 75euro, therefore making it pointless to lodge it. This being my first time trying to lodge a dollar cheque, I am completely shocked and outraged. I'm trying to start a business and I have some dealings with a company in America which don't have Direct Deposits set up for Ireland. Is every bank charging this absurd amount for processing foreign cheques?

Not only is this atrocious for small businesses in Ireland but how about families and expats sending home a few quid to their families at Christmas?

wmpdd3

Same with AIB and boi, we used to get british cheques for expenses and I had to bin them as it would cost more to lodge it. Bank transfer or Paypal is the way to go.

door

Thanks for confirming that other banks are doing it too.

Unfortunately the company which issued me the cheque only deal in cheques to Ireland. (They do direct deposit to UK though). How can they justify this shameful charge for a cheque?

homer911

You should be able to open a UK account with an AIB subsidiary, then get your customer to lodge to that

Nervous Wreck

door wrote: »

Thanks for confirming that other banks are doing it too.

Unfortunately the company which issued me the cheque only deal in cheques to Ireland. (They do direct deposit to UK though). How can they justify this shameful charge for a cheque?

Used to be free but the intermediary bank that the Irish banks were using has ceased business with Irish banks (possibly slightly more complicated than that; I'm not sure of the full deal with it) so the cost of lodging the cheques incurred by the banks get passed on to the customer.

Munstermissy

wmpdd3 wrote: »

Same with AIB and boi, we used to get british cheques for expenses and I had to bin them as it would cost more to lodge it. Bank transfer or Paypal is the way to go.

I lodged 2 US dollar cheques to my mothers account yesterday in BOI and teller did the currency conversion and lodged the amount into her account and no charge. 2 cheques were 100 dollars each

wmpdd3

Did you as k what the charge wil be? They will probably just charge her at the eds of the quarter.

Jim2007

door wrote: »

I just went into Permanent TSB where I have a business account and they told me it would cost 75euro to lodge an US Dollar cheque with them! (Other similar charges for all foreign cheques except sterling)

The cheque values less than 75euro, therefore making it pointless to lodge it. This being my first time trying to lodge a dollar cheque, I am completely shocked and outraged. I'm trying to start a business and I have some dealings with a company in America which don't have Direct Deposits set up for Ireland. Is every bank charging this absurd amount for processing foreign cheques?

Not only is this atrocious for small businesses in Ireland but how about families and expats sending home a few quid to their families at Christmas?

When you lodge a cheque to your account, your bank has to physically take the cheque and present it for payment at the other bank, it is not an simply an electronic transaction! So you are being charged for a physical service - people, van, planes etc...

Within Europe, Ireland and the UK are unusual that they still use cheques! And with the full implementation of SEPA, I'd expect that banks here will start to discourage the use of cheques too. It is a very expensive way of doing something that should be very simple.

The US banking system is falling very much behind, which is why services such as PayPal, Western Union and so on are so popular - it is about the only way Americans can move money around cheaply! Most expats I know use one of those type services to send money home.

If you are going to be doing small value transactions outside the SEPA region, then only accept PayPal or credit cards, otherwise it will not be profitable.

door

Thanks for the response Jim. While everything you say makes sense, it doesn't make sense that it would cost 75euro for this to be done. No banks ever charged this before. PermanentTSB said these new charges only came in in August.

I enquired with Ulster Bank yesterday and they dont charge this enormous rate and they were also surprised and shocked that any other bank was charging this rate. Ulster Bank said it would only cost less than 2euro to process an American cheque if I was a customer with them. Obviously, if comes down to it, I'll be switching banks but for the moment I still search for some alternative.

Does anybody know about setting up UK or US bank accounts from Ireland through your own bank? This way I can get my money electronically transferred.

Jim2007

door wrote: »

Thanks for the response Jim. While everything you say makes sense, it doesn't make sense that it would cost 75euro for this to be done. No banks ever charged this before. PermanentTSB said these new charges only came in in August.

It is encouragement to stop using cheques, plus the fewer people using the service the more expensive it is to operate...

door wrote: »

Does anybody know about setting up UK or US bank accounts from Ireland through your own bank? This way I can get my money electronically transferred.

Most banks can setup a Sterling or Dollar account for you, but unless the account is actually located within the US electronic processing system it will not help you much.

nlgbbbblth

The bank has two options

1) Lodge the cheque in the normal way via the international clearing system. You get value for the funds straightaway and the bank take their chances. If the cheque bounces then the bank has recourse to your account but you may have spent the funds at that point as it can take up to four weeks for it to be returned unpaid by the US bank. CHARGE FOR THIS TRANSACTION = ZERO, F*CKALL, €2 etc

2) Send the cheque for "collection" or special presentation. This involves the bank posting the cheque to the US bank with an accompanying letter and asking them to send cleared funds back (if the cheque is "good"). The US bank should send the funds back via electronic transfer to a general account in the Irish bank but they're not obliged to - they can just send a US bank draft back instead. CHARGE FOR THIS TRANSACTION = €75 or more

Option 1) will only be exercised for low risk customers. The bank is taking a risk by letting the customer access the funds now (in anticipation of the cheque being paid) so they're going to be selective in whom they do this for.

Option 2) presents no risk to the bank. The bulk of the high charge represent the US bank's handling fees. The Irish bank will charge a fee as well but it's not too much.

door

Thanks for that information nlgbbbblth

So it would appear Permanent TSB consider me a high risk customer by asking for this charge, even though I have a personal and business account with them, have been a customer for years and they make plenty of money off my savings, Well F**k Permanent TSB then, I'm moving banks after Christmas.

JTMan

door wrote: »

So it would appear Permanent TSB consider me a high risk customer by asking for this charge, even though I have a personal and business account with them,

Not necessarily. PTSB may not offer option 1 listed above to anyone, where PTSB take all the risk. They may only offer option 2 for antiquated cheques.

Given the cost and risk involved, PTSB are within their rights to apply this charge.

Nervous Wreck

Fungus wrote: »

Not necessarily. PTSB may not offer option 1 listed above to anyone, where PTSB take all the risk. They may only offer option 2 for antiquated cheques.

This is the case.

door

Fungus wrote: »

Not necessarily. PTSB may not offer option 1 listed above to anyone, where PTSB take all the risk. They may only offer option 2 for antiquated cheques.

Given the cost and risk involved, PTSB are within their rights to apply this charge.

Hi Fungus, I wouldn't dispute their rights at all, just that it is absolutely absurd, considering this is something that never happened before and that Ulster Bank have told me they wouldn't charge such an outrageous amount. There is a frequent mention of trying to phase out cheques but some companies around the world still only deal in cheques and I have no control over that.

Samba

At least they gave you the option of paying the fee OP. My branch flat out refused to accept a French cheque I recently tried to lodge on a personal account.

greenman09

If you ask again you will find that this charge is the US banks charge.