Send with a Cheque...

[507021]

That reminds me, I don't even know where my cheque book is.

 

[Killingworth]

This changed last year. Most cheques are now cleared by exchanging electronic scans of the cheques rather than the physical paper cheques having to be sent between banks, so they should clear by the end of the following working day. See https://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/cheque-users/businesses/cheque-imaging/about-cheque-imaging

That's right. I scan the cheque with my smartphone and it's in the account immediately, cleared by end of following working day. After a week I tear up the cheque, but if I need to I can retrieve the details from the copy available from the app. Very simple, after the 2nd and 3rd time! No need to go near the bank.

 

[Senex]

That's right. I scan the cheque with my smartphone and it's in the account immediately, cleared by end of following working day. After a week I tear up the cheque, but if I need to I can retrieve the details from the copy available from the app. Very simple, after the 2nd and 3rd time! No need to go near the bank.

You clearly don't bank with TSB who still believe it's good for you if you have to go into a branch any time you want to deposit a cheque. Or maybe it's just that this particular bank's last attempt to do something significant with computers was one of the greatest fiascos that any British bank has had in recent years.

 

[bussnapperwm]

I enjoy going into branch/post office to pay a cheque/cash in and bills. Its just that nice touch of human interaction that makes one feel a bit more valued then a faceless IT system

 

[Killingworth]

You clearly don't bank with TSB who still believe it's good for you if you have to go into a branch any time you want to deposit a cheque. Or maybe it's just that this particular bank's last attempt to do something significant with computers was one of the greatest fiascos that any British bank has had in recent years.

You're right, I escaped their clutches! I'll not go into the Spanish connection as it's a digression too far off this track.

 

[najaB]

This changed last year. Most cheques are now cleared by exchanging electronic scans of the cheques rather than the physical paper cheques having to be sent between banks, so they should clear by the end of the following working day. See https://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/cheque-users/businesses/cheque-imaging/about-cheque-imaging

That's good, though it shows how long ago I last paid in a cheque.

 

[PeterC]

That's right. I scan the cheque with my smartphone and it's in the account immediately, cleared by end of following working day. After a week I tear up the cheque, but if I need to I can retrieve the details from the copy available from the app. Very simple, after the 2nd and 3rd time! No need to go near the bank.

Reminds me that I have to go and pay two cheques in on Monday. The HSBC app is only for personal accounts and the account is for a community group.

 

[Essan]

I haven't owned a cheque book since the 1990s ....

 

[Busaholic]

Wasn’t it just as simple as asking people to write two or more cheques of up to £50 until the transaction was covered? I’m sure my Dad did it this way. Or perhaps he looked dodgy.

I drove my wife to the County Showground in Stafford, from Cornwall, one autumn Sunday in 1999, so she could attend a mass gathering of parrot fanciers whose every need was met by hundreds of stallholders gathered for the day, accompanied by, literally, hundreds of parrots of every type and size, and the resultant din could be heard as you travelled up the M6 from Birmingham ( the parrots were a bit vocal as well .)

After about half an hour I could stand no more, and told my wife I'd be back at 4 o'clock to pick her up, and went into the county town, a new one on me, to discover it was well and truly closed, other than for a McDonalds and a couple of ropey pubs, the less unsalubrious of which I entered, purchased a half of something disgusting, and sat down to peruse my newspaper. It quickly became apparent my presence was causing some consternation to the only two other people in the pub, so I left while I could get out alive, and decided I'd just have to re-enter the parrot show earlier than planned. It took about half an hour to find my wife, who was engaged in deep discussions with a stallholder, and she immediately enquired as to whether I had my cheque book and guarantee card with me, which I did. She then informed me she had bought a baby parrot, plus carrying cage, etc, but needed a further £650 to complete the transaction. To say I was dumbfounded by all of this was the understatement of the year, so I was in shock as I asked the stallholder to whom the cheque should be made out: she replied, not one cheque, but thirteen cheques of £50 each, to be made out at weekly intervals starting from that day!! Luckily, or perhaps not, I had 13 cheques left, so got writing. She then demanded my cheque card number be written on the back of each, but I was able to remind her that was the merchant's to do, suggesting she write it on the back of the first and do the rest at her leisure later. I knew, as a merchant myself, that my bank didn't HAVE to honour any of the cheques after the first, because postdating wasn't allowed in conjunction with the guarantee scheme, but in the event it actually helped me to get the necessary funds together in time.

 

[Killingworth]

I drove my wife to the County Showground in Stafford, from Cornwall, one autumn Sunday in 1999, so she could attend a mass gathering of parrot fanciers whose every need was met by hundreds of stallholders gathered for the day, accompanied by, literally, hundreds of parrots of every type and size, and the resultant din could be heard as you travelled up the M6 from Birmingham ( the parrots were a bit vocal as well .)

After about half an hour I could stand no more, and told my wife I'd be back at 4 o'clock to pick her up, and went into the county town, a new one on me, to discover it was well and truly closed, other than for a McDonalds and a couple of ropey pubs, the less unsalubrious of which I entered, purchased a half of something disgusting, and sat down to peruse my newspaper. It quickly became apparent my presence was causing some consternation to the only two other people in the pub, so I left while I could get out alive, and decided I'd just have to re-enter the parrot show earlier than planned. It took about half an hour to find my wife, who was engaged in deep discussions with a stallholder, and she immediately enquired as to whether I had my cheque book and guarantee card with me, which I did. She then informed me she had bought a baby parrot, plus carrying cage, etc, but needed a further £650 to complete the transaction. To say I was dumbfounded by all of this was the understatement of the year, so I was in shock as I asked the stallholder to whom the cheque should be made out: she replied, not one cheque, but thirteen cheques of £50 each, to be made out at weekly intervals starting from that day!! Luckily, or perhaps not, I had 13 cheques left, so got writing. She then demanded my cheque card number be written on the back of each, but I was able to remind her that was the merchant's to do, suggesting she write it on the back of the first and do the rest at her leisure later. I knew, as a merchant myself, that my bank didn't HAVE to honour any of the cheques after the first, because postdating wasn't allowed in conjunction with the guarantee scheme, but in the event it actually helped me to get the necessary funds together in time.

That takes me back over 40 years. Working in a bank I saw multiple cheques come through fairly often and they'd be allowed through because funds were there.

However there was a time when books and cards would be reported stolen. There was a particular filling station where the staff were probably aware of what was going on. Must have been a dozen or more cars filled up in the day the items were stolen until we started bouncing the cheques. The owners said we couldn't do that. We said we could. That little racket stopped immediately. I'd assume my small branch wasn't the only one to be defrauded.

 

[Bald Rick]

I drove my wife to the County Showground in Stafford, from Cornwall, one autumn Sunday in 1999, so she could attend a mass gathering of parrot fanciers whose every need was met by hundreds of stallholders gathered for the day, accompanied by, literally, hundreds of parrots of every type and size, and the resultant din could be heard as you travelled up the M6 from Birmingham ( the parrots were a bit vocal as well .)

After about half an hour I could stand no more, and told my wife I'd be back at 4 o'clock to pick her up, and went into the county town, a new one on me, to discover it was well and truly closed, other than for a McDonalds and a couple of ropey pubs, the less unsalubrious of which I entered, purchased a half of something disgusting, and sat down to peruse my newspaper. It quickly became apparent my presence was causing some consternation to the only two other people in the pub, so I left while I could get out alive, and decided I'd just have to re-enter the parrot show earlier than planned. It took about half an hour to find my wife, who was engaged in deep discussions with a stallholder, and she immediately enquired as to whether I had my cheque book and guarantee card with me, which I did. She then informed me she had bought a baby parrot, plus carrying cage, etc, but needed a further £650 to complete the transaction. To say I was dumbfounded by all of this was the understatement of the year, so I was in shock as I asked the stallholder to whom the cheque should be made out: she replied, not one cheque, but thirteen cheques of £50 each, to be made out at weekly intervals starting from that day!! Luckily, or perhaps not, I had 13 cheques left, so got writing. She then demanded my cheque card number be written on the back of each, but I was able to remind her that was the merchant's to do, suggesting she write it on the back of the first and do the rest at her leisure later. I knew, as a merchant myself, that my bank didn't HAVE to honour any of the cheques after the first, because postdating wasn't allowed in conjunction with the guarantee scheme, but in the event it actually helped me to get the necessary funds together in time.

I think I’d have been tempted to say that I had forgotten my cheque book. Or at the very least, torn a couple of cheques up surrpetiously.

 

[Busaholic]

That takes me back over 40 years. Working in a bank I saw multiple cheques come through fairly often and they'd be allowed through because funds were there.

However there was a time when books and cards would be reported stolen. There was a particular filling station where the staff were probably aware of what was going on. Must have been a dozen or more cars filled up in the day the items were stolen until we started bouncing the cheques. The owners said we couldn't do that. We said we could. That little racket stopped immediately. I'd assume my small branch wasn't the only one to be defrauded.

I made a stupid business decision once (well, a lot more than once, but I'll focus on this one). I agreed to pay a sum of several thousand pounds for surplus book stock from Waterstone's for my independent bookshop: this deal was arranged through a third party, whom I suspect did much better out of it than either Waterstone's or myself. It was to be paid for by three business cheques, each of one third of the total. the first being payable before delivery such that it was cleared before I saw the books, let alone got them, the other two at monthly intervals. When the books got delivered, I straightaway realised I'd been stitched up, and I'd be extremely fortunate to recoup my investment within years, let alone make a small profit. The intermediary was non-contactable, but that first cheque payment would have seen him a tidy profit. I considered whether to cancel the second and third cheques, but felt honour bound to at least let the second cheque go through. After it would have done, I contacted my bank to find both second and third cheques had been presented within a few days of one another before the first month was up - when I asked how that could be, I was politely told that I had no recourse as amongst the reams of literature I'd received from NatWest over the years was an explanation of how the practice of issuing postdated cheques was unacceptable in other than limited prescribed situations. A lesson learned, bitterly!

 

[GusB]

I enjoy going into branch/post office to pay a cheque/cash in and bills. Its just that nice touch of human interaction that makes one feel a bit more valued then a faceless IT system

I have limited choice when it comes to paying in cheques. My nearest branch is Glasgow (Co-op Bank), so I can either post it to them or pay in at a Post Office (which requires a special envelope). From experience, sending it directly by 1st class post is by far the quicker option.