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Haha...banks are the worst...my bank tried putting holds on my US checks a while back as well...I managed to convince them otherwise though.
First I tried the simple:
"Well I've been depositing US checks for nearly five years now, and I've never had one returned on me"
...didn't work...apparently past banking history and a kickass credit history isn't good enough
"If the check bounces, I'm the one stuck with the bill so why do you care?"
...then they changed their position to the fact it was "for my protection"
After a few hours (yes hours...I must have spoken to four different people) of listening to their bullshitting I finally just said fuck it, drove for an hour and a half to the branch and spoke with the manager...she tried giving me the same bullshit as well.
She then tried compromising as I wouldn't take no for an answer...
first she said she'd allow checks to be cashed if I put my RRSP up as collateral (which btw is technically illegal...RRSPs cannot be used as security). Then she tried to get me to tie in some GICs and use them for collateral.
Finally the agreement we came up with was a limit on the checks...any check > $3500 has the 21 day hold on it....anything under that is withdrawable immediately for me.
Summed up....setup a meeting with the bank's branch manager and make sure he/she understands that the money is your lifesource....bills won't wait 21 business days to be paid so why should you? If you suggest something similar to what I got with a capped maximum on a insta-cleared check something could probably be worked out. Don't deal with anyone but the branch manager though, anyone else has to follow policy and would need the manager to clear it anyways...so skip the middleman.
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