Webmasters outside of the USA... does your bank charge a shitload to deposit checks?

[rowan]

If you think you're paying too much to deposit checks, or the bank holds your converted funds for too long, why not ask your bank if they can do you a better deal? If they can see that you've been regularly depositing checks with no dramas (like half of them being returned) then they should be prepared to lower their "risk barrier" and treat you like a valued, loyal customer.

It probably helps if you have a major product with them such as a car or home loan, cash management account etc.

I started off paying a fee per check and waiting between 28 working days and 4-6 weeks. Now I get them cleared on the spot for a single fee per batch.

You'll never know unless you ask...

[Jace]

I am not from outside the USA, but I do deposit checks from france and holland on a regular basis, and the hold they put on them is WAY too long...sometimes upwards of 3-4 weeks and shit

[rowan]

Originally Posted by Jace

I am not from outside the USA, but I do deposit checks from france and holland on a regular basis, and the hold they put on them is WAY too long...sometimes upwards of 3-4 weeks and shit

Yeah, I see you have a similar problem. Why don't you talk to your bank?

The most common question I hear from tellers when I'm depositing a wad of cheques is, "why can't you get the companies to send wires?"

[Jace]

Originally Posted by rowan

Yeah, I see you have a similar problem. Why don't you talk to your bank?

The most common question I hear from tellers when I'm depositing a wad of cheques is, "why can't you get the companies to send wires?"

I have talked to them and thy offer to do nothing, they say it is standard procedure...even though the companies sending the checks have been the same for 2 years now, and on a very consistant basis

they even hold canadian checks for 2 weeks at my bank

and the amount of these checks is only usually $50-70, so a wire would cost too much for that

[Aquarius]

Epassporte

[directfiesta]

I'm in Canada, and TDCanadatrust does'nt charge me nothing for depositing US ( got a shitty 1.07 today ) or Euros . And no holdback ( I am an established customer ... )

They charge for incoming wires ...

[rowan]

Originally Posted by Aquarius

Epassporte

pro: cleared funds at call
pro: can be used for tax evasion if you have balls

con: not every sponsor can send via epass
con: hard to track who sends funds, and for what (weird usernames, no check stubs with info)
con: shitty currency conversion rate, no interest, plus you have to withdraw as cash

Personally I use epass as a supplementary payment system, the majority of my income still arrives via checks, and goes straight into a home loan account where it starts saving me $$$ immediately.

[georgeyw]

Originally Posted by Aquarius

Epassporte

if only every sponsor paid via epassporte...

I have to wait 20 business days so 4weeks + for clearance and $10 per cheque. I've asked and I get the usual 'this is how it has to be done'. Although if i have a bunch of cheques fromthe same bank, they only charge me once. So since most of the US sponsors use BOA - I just take in a bunch of cheques at a time. Still a real shit havingto wait so long.

[rowan]

Originally Posted by georgeyw

if only every sponsor paid via epassporte...

I have to wait 20 business days so 4weeks + for clearance and $10 per cheque. I've asked and I get the usual 'this is how it has to be done'. Although if i have a bunch of cheques fromthe same bank, they only charge me once. So since most of the US sponsors use BOA - I just take in a bunch of cheques at a time. Still a real shit havingto wait so long.

Which AU bank are you with?

[studiocritic]

Originally Posted by Jace

I have talked to them and thy offer to do nothing, they say it is standard procedure...even though the companies sending the checks have been the same for 2 years now, and on a very consistant basis

they even hold canadian checks for 2 weeks at my bank

and the amount of these checks is only usually $50-70, so a wire would cost too much for that

where are you located jace? bofa and wells fargo are better for that (in my experience)

[georgeyw]

Originally Posted by rowan

Which AU bank are you with?

Commonwealth

How long do youhave to wait and with which bank?

[wdforty]

The 28 working days is a killer, I'm with commonwealth too.

They even did that to me on a bank cheque!

[Paul Markham]

You think you got problems.

In the UK I had no problems, as soon as the money from any check hit my account it was credited to me. They knew my record and trusted me, had nothing to do with the check writer. When we moved our banking to Czech it all changed.

6 to 8 weeks to clear checks from companies like LFP and PRO, both companies worth more than the bank with our funds. Regular monthly checks of $2,000 to $10,000 would just sit in limbo.

It came to a head when we wanted to do a series of movies and after costing it found we were $4,000 short on CLEARED funds, even though we had that amount waiting to be cleared in a week or two.

They charged us money to lend us our own money that was sitting in their account.

We looked around for other banks and found another one, as we went to close the account in the original bank they offered to be more lenient.

What a great feeling to tell a bank manager to STICK IT UP YOUR ARSE.

Part of the problem though is not just the bank depositing the check, sometimes it's down to the bank issuing the check. They don't always release the funds as fast as they should.

[georgeyw]

Originally Posted by wdforty

The 28 working days is a killer, I'm with commonwealth too.

They even did that to me on a bank cheque!

hmm they tell me 20 working days...but it never seems to work out that way.

I've had a number of checks that have taken a few months to clear. Even then, the only reason they end up getting cleared is from me hassling the bank.

[Antonio]

I get my money cleared right away, but the charges can be really high especially on small checks, you get a 25 bucks check and about 10 bucks goes to my account

epassporte is MUCH cheaper for me, but I still get half my money in checks

[Jace]

Originally Posted by studiocritic

where are you located jace? bofa and wells fargo are better for that (in my experience)

atlanta, ga

we had a horrible experience with bank of america a few years back, they basically stole $650 from us, admitted to it, and the rep on the phone said, AND I QUOTE "sorry sir, there is nothing you can do about it."....needless to say, we don't use them

wells fargo doesn't have a local branch

but we are looking into Washington Mutual, which someone said is pretty good

[bobbyjuly]

Years ago, ( i am not telling how a decade gone so quick) I moved to Europe for work and my webmaster checks started to come there. I was paying way too much for fees. And they hold the fund for 20 work days. Which is 4 weeks if there is no holidays in between. Otherwise more than 4 weeks.

Always be nice to the bank manager! After a few visits, she advised me to prepay a small fee in advance for every check deposit, so the check clears into my account at exact amount instead of paying a higher percentage fee from the check total amount.

She was a hottie, wish i made my move back then, lol.

cheers,
bobby

Originally Posted by rowan

If you think you're paying too much to deposit checks, or the bank holds your converted funds for too long, why not ask your bank if they can do you a better deal? If they can see that you've been regularly depositing checks with no dramas (like half of them being returned) then they should be prepared to lower their "risk barrier" and treat you like a valued, loyal customer.

It probably helps if you have a major product with them such as a car or home loan, cash management account etc.

I started off paying a fee per check and waiting between 28 working days and 4-6 weeks. Now I get them cleared on the spot for a single fee per batch.

You'll never know unless you ask...

[xclicks]

No check here
I'm in Canada, with Royal bank, having an US account on RBC Cetura.
I get all my money electronically either ACH or wire on RBC cetura or widraw from epassporte to RBC centura
From RBC centura to Royal bank is free and instant ;)
From Epassporte to Centura it taes about 3 to 5 biz days
From ccbill i get wire to Centura ($15 per wire)

[Martin3]

Originally Posted by Jace

I have talked to them and thy offer to do nothing, they say it is standard procedure...even though the companies sending the checks have been the same for 2 years now, and on a very consistant basis

they even hold canadian checks for 2 weeks at my bank

and the amount of these checks is only usually $50-70, so a wire would cost too much for that

What bank do you use?
I use Chase, Canadian checks clear the following business day for me.

[FlogTheLog]

whats this check thing you speak of ?

[rowan]

Originally Posted by FlogTheLog

whats this check thing you speak of ?

*switches to Aussie speak*

We're talking about cheques, mate.

Or are you now an epass snob?

[FlogTheLog]

Originally Posted by rowan

*switches to Aussie speak*

We're talking about cheques, mate.

Or are you now an epass snob?

*switches to Aussie speak*

epass all the way mate

[IceMaster]

My bank takes 15 days to pay me the money.

[Gambit]

UK HSBC = 10UKP per cheque

[rowan]

Originally Posted by Gambit

UK HSBC = 10UKP per cheque

Wow, that's a pretty hefty fee. Assuming you can't do any better then perhaps wires could be a serious consideration: your cheque deposit fee is approaching the cost of an outgoing wire, and a wire will usually have a better conversion rate...

[Jace]

Originally Posted by Martin3

What bank do you use?
I use Chase, Canadian checks clear the following business day for me.

it is a local credit union here, Bond...I am not really all that worried about it, just because the checks only total about $200-300 a month or so

[georgeyw]

Originally Posted by FlogTheLog

whats this check thing you speak of ?

just trying to fit in with the gang

cheques bite the big one!

[Jakke PNG]

My bank takes 50 eur per check.
.. I switched to wires long time ago.

[Crypt]

Originally Posted by directfiesta

I'm in Canada, and TDCanadatrust does'nt charge me nothing for depositing US ( got a shitty 1.07 today ) or Euros . And no holdback ( I am an established customer ... )

They charge for incoming wires ...

Exact

Check deposit free, but they get you back on wire fee hehe
But overall its a good bank, i use the same , and the nice thing is when you are *trusted* you get some privileges.

[marky9378]

Hey

Im in the UK and charges in this country is way to high and the bank manager cant even offer me a drink (lol)

[Dennis69]

They use to hold mine at first until they got a history of them not bouncing... now I have no problems at that branch and there are no fees... but I've since moved about 2 hours away from that branch and the branch that is 5 minutes away won't touch my cheques at all

Doesn't make sense to have to drive 2 hours to do something that I should be able to at the same bank thats only 5 minutes away

[digifan]

Checks are not worth it.. banks are greedy bastards.

[PussyTeenies]

15 days to deposit it
around $15 bucks

other bank' fee is $50

[u-Bob]

I pay 12 euros per batch, don't have to wait for my money (gets cleared right away).

[breaker]

5 days and $20 per check

[RogerV10]

Wow that sucks. Why not use epassporte for those with big fees?

[justsexxx]

2 working days, fee is like 13 euro per check tho :-(

[IceMaster]

Their fee is 7 euro.

[cool1]

between 3 to 6 weeks my credit union will hold a check, until it clears and it is thier choice on how long.
And they won't tell me if it clears earlier than the time they have picked.
it really sucks but there is no fee involved.
Its the main reason I like epassporte so much.

[klixxxgirl]

Originally Posted by rowan

.... treat you like a valued, loyal customer.

obviously you've never been to Panama