Sterling Cheque Hassle

[melonf]

Every few months I pay a UK Sterling cheque into my Bangkok Bank savings account.

...And every time I have to play the same pantomine act...

I say... I would like to pay a UK Sterling cheque into my account...

The lady at the foreign remittance desk says sorry you cannot do

I say...I have done many times before...

She says can I see your passbook...she looks and says all the large inputs are electronic transfers from foreign bank...

I say, no they are not, they are cheques....(code CMB if anyone understands these)

I show her the cheque stubs...

She says ok... 370 Baht commission.

Does anyone know what the meaning of this game is?

Is there any problem paying a foreign cheque into the account. I can only guess that you no longer are allowed to do but if you have done already you can continue.

[libya 115]

Every few months I pay a UK Sterling cheque into my Bangkok Bank savings account.

...And every time I have to play the same pantomine act...

I say... I would like to pay a UK Sterling cheque into my account...

The lady at the foreign remittance desk says sorry you cannot do

I say...I have done many times before...

She says can I see your passbook...she looks and says all the large inputs are electronic transfers from foreign bank...

I say, no they are not, they are cheques....(code CMB if anyone understands these)

I show her the cheque stubs...

She says ok... 370 Baht commission.

Does anyone know what the meaning of this game is?

Is there any problem paying a foreign cheque into the account. I can only guess that you no longer are allowed to do but if you have done already you can continue.

I am interested in this, so you pay 370 baht commission. How does the exchange rate work out?

I have tried to do the same; but my Thai bank said it would take six weeks, so I did not bother.

How long do you wait for cleared funds?

These days, I just get a telegraphic transfer from British Isles bank for GBP 13 quid. It takes 3-4 days.

Edited November 23, 2006 by libya 115

[PeaceBlondie]

I was lucky. First time, it was a refund check from BUPA, so it was a Thai check from Bangkok. Second time, an income tax refund check from the USA, and the bright branch manager recognized it instantly. For the domestic check, I paid maybe a 20 or 40 baht clearance fee. For the US check, maybe 200 baht. It took several weeks.

Why, the original poster asks? Because Thailand isn't really a first world country. I was amazed that my branch manager had ever heard of the United States Treasury. They wouldn't trust it if Queen Elizabeth II was beside you. They wait until it clears, overseas.

[cclub75]

Does anyone know what the meaning of this game is?

Probably : "You-are-bothering-me-game".

It's a manual work, it's time consuming, and it's complicated etc.

This is why, for all the banks : it's costly and it takes times.

[melonf]

I am interested in this, so you pay 370 baht commission. How does the exchange rate work out?

I have tried to do the same; but my Thai bank said it would take six weeks, so I did not bother.

How long do you wait for cleared funds?

These days, I just get a telegraphic transfer from British Isles bank for GBP 13 quid. It takes 3-4 days.

I could phone my UK bank from Thailand, but the amount of 'security' questions for telegraphic transfers has become stupid and it takes 10 minutes... on top of the select 1 for phone banking etc...on top of the please hold until an agent becomes available...your custom is important etc. It ends up costing about 10 pounds in phone bills.

The cheque method used to take 6 weeks, now takes 4 ...and no one asks any ludicorus questions like what is the birth date of the recipient? It winds me up especially when the amount is less than you could take out of an ATM...no questions asked.

The exchange rates seems good...but I cannot prove this as you dont know exactly which day of the 30, it was all decided on

Edited November 23, 2006 by melonf

[johnnyk]

melonf, why do you keep doing this if its a pain in the arse? why not put it into a uk account or have the issuer direct deposit into a uk account or have a bank draft done in baht?

cheques in other currencies are a hassle anywhere, even in europe. in thailand it takes even more time because its thailand.

its all extra clerical work, its paper and not data. there is no automated clearing system that i know of for this.

as for the 370 baht, well they have you by the short hairs so mai ben lai.

[samran]

cheques....so 1960's!

[Farma]

Wasn't there a recent news report that cheques were being phased out in the UK. Most UK major retailers no longer accept them.

If thats the case the OP may need to look at other methods to transfer his money rather than worrying about cheque hassles with Thai banks.

[lanny]

I was lucky. First time, it was a refund check from BUPA, so it was a Thai check from Bangkok. Second time, an income tax refund check from the USA, and the bright branch manager recognized it instantly. For the domestic check, I paid maybe a 20 or 40 baht clearance fee. For the US check, maybe 200 baht. It took several weeks.

Why, the original poster asks? Because Thailand isn't really a first world country. I was amazed that my branch manager had ever heard of the United States Treasury. They wouldn't trust it if Queen Elizabeth II was beside you. They wait until it clears, overseas.

I don't know about UK checks but I can give you and explanation of the problem with US Treasury checks.

A few years ago there was a cottage industry here counterfieting Treasury checks. A person would take a fake check to a bank, open an account or deposit it to an existing account. Then, before it had time to bounce, they would withdraw most, if not all, of the money. When the check finally came back, the account owner would have disappeared and the bank would be stuck. It happened enough times, to all the banks, that no bank likes to take them anymore.

I have had a number of clients who have had problems cashing refund checks for US taxes. If you have a larege balance, a long history of doing business with the bank, or know the senior staff of your branch, the bank may refuse to take the check. Even if they do, they accept the check "for collection" and make you wait several weeks. And charge a fee, of course!

[smilingjim]

I could phone my UK bank from Thailand, but the amount of 'security' questions for telegraphic transfers has become stupid and it takes 10 minutes... on top of the select 1 for phone banking etc...on top of the please hold until an agent becomes available...your custom is important etc. It ends up costing about 10 pounds in phone bills.

The cheque method used to take 6 weeks, now takes 4 ...and no one asks any ludicorus questions like what is the birth date of the recipient? It winds me up especially when the amount is less than you could take out of an ATM...no questions asked.

The exchange rates seems good...but I cannot prove this as you dont know exactly which day of the 30, it was all decided on

If you have a UK bank account I can't understand why you are going through this lengthy and frustrating process of paying UK cheques into a Thai bank account.

Pay the cheques into your UK bank account and withdraw it through an ATM or ask the issuer to pay the money directly into your UK account.

Another alternative is to set up an offshore account in Sterling that lets you do Internet banking etc. etc. Minimal opening balance required. Isle of Man or Jersey.

LloydsTSB will do this for you.