How can I cash this cheque?

[Blueearedstarling]

I have been kindly donated a bit of money for a good cause I organise, but the cheque is from an American bank. My bank (cooperative) doesn't accept foreign cheques.
The person who sent the cheque won't consider any other way of sending the money eg bank transfer or anything, they say they just want to use cheque.
Any pointers how I can get this cheque paid in or cashed? It's for around a hundred pounds

Does the American bank have any branches here as you would be able to cash it at one of them. Why does the person who sent the cheque not want to do it any other way?

Could you try Cash Converters or the like? Or some kind of money exchange? They'll take a commission though.

You'll need to open an account with a bank that will accept foreign currency cheques. It's a bit of a pain for you, but I can't think of another way around it.

The American bank has no branches in the UK. I have no idea why the person does not want to try any other way of sending the money but they do not, I've tried to discuss it with them, got a firm no. Plus they have already sent the cheque.
Opening an account with another bank is a possibility but a huge hassle, that might be the only option unless there are any other ideas.
I am not sure places like cash converters (do they still exist) would cash a foreign cheque, only UK ones (from what I have read online).

I had the same problem, except my cheque was for about £40 IIRC. My banks wouldn't cash, and couldn't find any cheque cashing type places that would either. Just had to write it off in the end! I think Barclays will cash US Dollar cheques from my investigating

Who is the cheque payable to?

My bank cashed it no problem but said it would take 6 weeks for the funds to clear but as I didn't need access to the funds immediately it was worthwhile for me.

I have no idea why the person does not want to try any other way of sending the money but they do not

Have told them that their cheque is, unfortunately, a useless scrap of paper to you, and you can’t cash it?

A quick google says that the main high street banks will accept an American cheque but only over the counter - not via online banking. NatWest says it has to written as sterling but the others (Barclays/hsbc/Santander etc) just state that major foreign currencies will just take longer to clear.

I haven’t googled for other banks such as monzo etc, but it doesn’t look like a totally insurmountable problem although finding an actual bank branch that’s open could well be.

Yes

Thanks, you have been able to find out more information than my Google search showed. The information may be somewhat out of date, as my googling has also told me that some banks have ceased taking foreign cheques. My bank definitely does not take foreign cheques as I called them.

Payable to me

No much help I'm afraid, but you could try actually taking it into a branch of your co-op bank and asking them. Sometimes it's possible to get a more helpful answer in person than on the phone. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Blueearedstarling I just googleD “ how to cash an American cheque in the uk?” Came up with some answers. I would also ask on Reddit uk, as they seem to be very good at answering the more unusual queries and conundrums.

I know Co-Op, TSB and Monzo won't as have accounts with them

It sounds as though this person wants the glory of giving to charity without actually paying for it. I would just say again that banks here won't accept the cheque so I'm afraid I'll have to shred the cheque.

Barclays have recently stopped foreign cheque deposits. When we complained, we were told to get the payer to use electronic banking. Unfortunately, we have no power over the US government (IRS) to make this happen. We have opened at NatWest account just for this purpose.

One of the things we found useful a few years ago for my FIL's funeral was to split the cost of our AirBnB - we found that Paypal was extremely simple.

I suspect the donor is secretly happy you can't cash their cheque, otherwise they'd be more amenable to an alternative.

Dd had this as she did camp America. , and was paid into an American bank account that she had to open , took the money in a cheque and paid it into her Barclays account , there was quite hefty transaction charge though

It's a cultural thing - cheques are way more common in North America / Canada than bank transfers which is a lot more common

Maybe reach out to the charity it's for directly to see if they can help?

I had similar. I opened an account with Santander and paid it in. Took about five weeks to clear, then closed the account. Think there was a £10 fee. It was all easy.

How easy was it to open the Santander account?

I did it all online. And then posted the cheque off.

Sounds like fraud to me

Donyou know the peraon personally? As in really know them?