Depositing US-generated Checks (Dollars) in a UK Account: Is this possible

Hi,

I'm moving to the UK in about a week and have am wrapping up loose ends.  One thing I was wondering about is US-based checks.  How does one deposit them in the UK?  Are there special bank accounts that allow you to do so or do most people rely on family in the US to deposit to a US account and then transfer the money via wire or XE Trade?

If you are expecting a lot of US cheques then you can open a dollar account with your UK bank.

Vicky

I am far from an expert in financial matters and I don't know much about wiring and XE Trade.  However I do know that our bank in the UK allows us to deposit checks from the US written in dollars but they take 8 weeks to clear.

it's possible to just deposit them into a UK bank account- but they will take significantly longer to clear- several weeks at least.  For my student loan cheques (which were in USD) it was easier to FedEx the cheques back to my dad in the States and have him deposit them into my US bank account and then wire me the funds- that shortened the process to a matter of days.

DH & I have a Plus Account (pay account with extra features) with HSBC it takes about a week for US cheques to clear when we deposit them...

If you deposit U.S. dollar checks into a Sterling account, be prepared for some hefty bank charges too.

If you deposit U.S. dollar checks into a Sterling account, be prepared for some hefty bank charges too.

that seems so weird to me. my banks here in the US deposit sterling checks for me no problem. i give them the check in the morning/afternoon, and by the next day its posted to my account. are US banks just...more lenient?

If you deposit U.S. dollar checks into a Sterling account, be prepared for some hefty bank charges too.

If you deposit U.S. dollar checks into a Sterling account, be prepared for some additional UK tax liabilities too if the account they are coming is yours and from contains interest, dividends or capital gains...

For me, it's much easier to just keep a US account that you can either mail checks to or have someone deposit.  I find there are often little things that need paying or my student loans in the states.  It costs a lot less to just use XE trade and send the money over.

As for US checks coming here, I found I lost enough of the money in the fee my bank charged for it not being in sterling and it just wasn't worth it to me, so I mailed the check to my US bank to deposit.

For my student loan cheques (which were in USD) it was easier to FedEx the cheques back to my dad in the States and have him deposit them into my US bank account and then wire me the funds- that shortened the process to a matter of days.

The other option for student loan cheques is to arrange for them to be made payable to the university and then have them direct deposit them into your bank account. That was the quickest and cheapest option I could come up with and I never had any problems with it....