cheque payable to somebody in Ireland

Honest · Post by **Honest** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 6:22 pm

How to make a cheque payable to somebody in Ireland? How much can it cost? What this kind of cheque is called in finnish?

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leisl · Post by **leisl** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:36 pm

Honest question: why? Why not IBAN direct deposit? It's euros to euros.

Otherwise go into a bank, but it's expensive...

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 9:43 pm

You would need to go to a museum, banks don't do checques any more.

Ask them for an IBAN number and BIC, its an Euro SEPA zone transfer so it works as a domestic payment.

If they insist on a checque insist they either pay all the charges or go feck themselves... I know cashing a foreign checque in finland costs something like 85 euros and clearing takes 70 days... Then theres Western Union moneygrams and such.

Honest · Post by **Honest** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:28 pm

leisl wrote:Honest question: why? Why not IBAN direct deposit? It's euros to euros.

Otherwise go into a bank, but it's expensive...

UK, Ireland and the USA are very backward in their banking systems.

Bank transfer would be the easiest and the best option but it's not available.

Beep_Boop · Post by **Beep_Boop** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 11:54 pm

No, they're not. Both UK and Ireland do SEPA and use IBANs.
If SEPA transfers are out of the question, then you're either being scammed or you're scamming someone.

leisl · Post by **leisl** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 1:03 am

Honest wrote:UK, Ireland and the USA are very backward in their banking systems.

Bank transfer would be the easiest and the best option but it's not available.

Ireland can't not deal with IBAN transactions. They're EU so they have to.

I can only assume you are talking about Northern Ireland, which is a completely different country and currency. Or, that the payee isn't supplying the account number and IBAN as a means for receiving the money. In which case: you want Western Union etc, who can do these sorts of money order type things equivalent to a cheque. Buyer beware, there is little chance of stopping anything if you get scammed.

Pursuivant wrote:You would need to go to a museum, banks don't do checques any more.

Ask them for an IBAN number and BIC, its an Euro SEPA zone transfer so it works as a domestic payment.

If they insist on a checque insist they either pay all the charges or go feck themselves... I know cashing a foreign checque in finland costs something like 85 euros and clearing takes 70 days... Then theres Western Union moneygrams and such.

Not true that banks won't do them. An OP employee told me last week about arranging a cheque for someone.

But you are correct it costs a fortune and they generally will only do it if it's in their interests - in the case I was told about, it was because a rich American had casually mentioned investing the proceeds of their home sale with the bank. A large amount of investment cash has a curious habit of making a bank more obliging.

Rocking up and saying you want to pay for something by cheque into Ireland? You will get the funny look then "We can't do that" unless you manage to get an employee who cares even remotely about your business.

Honest · Post by **Honest** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 4:25 am

They are backward. Demanding a payment method abandoned here two decades ago shows that they are still stuck in the past. And don't be quick in assuming things. Nobody is scamming anybody. It's a dealing with a government institution.

Honest · Post by **Honest** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 4:27 am

Online option is available but only for Irish residents. From others they want cheques and drafts.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 12:05 pm

Send them a letter back asking for a carrier pigeon, because due to security reasons, Finnish banks will only send checques with carrier pigeons.

Only sensible option is to find a non-demented Irish friend with IBAN who can do a post office draft (they take those I suppose?), and then send it to you.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 12:59 pm

Honest wrote:It's a dealing with a government institution.

Weird. It has been two years from e-Day. One would think the effect would have trickled to non business users too.

leisl · Post by **leisl** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 3:12 pm

Pursuivant wrote:Send them a letter back asking for a carrier pigeon, because due to security reasons, Finnish banks will only send checques with carrier pigeons.

Only sensible option is to find a non-demented Irish friend with IBAN who can do a post office draft (they take those I suppose?), and then send it to you.

I like these two... probably the first one the best

Or you could call them and get uppity, tell them that you're EU and ask why they're discriminating against the rest of the EU, make a general friendly bother of yourself and hope they cave in and just let you pay by deposit if you offer to cover the transfer fees at your end. (That might be all it is - there are plenty of idiots that cannot understand this concept and the payee ends up getting not enough money, causing a pain in the behind that needs a second transaction to pay the missing funds).

Honest wrote:They are backward. Demanding a payment method abandoned here two decades ago shows that they are still stuck in the past. And don't be quick in assuming things. Nobody is scamming anybody. It's a dealing with a government institution.

I made no assumptions, but since you didn't specify, just didn't want you to get burned, that's all.

biscayne · Post by **biscayne** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 4:21 pm

I am having a similar problem.

I need to get a verification of an educational thing I did a hundred years ago in the USA. The body issuing the verification wants a "money order" for 30 dollars and will not take any other form of payment..........

Obviously banks here, or post offices don't do money orders anymore..................

The body in the USA will not give me an account number for me to do a non-sepa transfer (which would cost me a few squid, as it is not sepa, but I don't mind). Without this particular verification, I cannot go ahead with something I want to go ahead with. Obviously I have the certificate etc., but the body I need the verification for wants it directly from the USA

ARRRGH

by the way to the OP - I am Irish, and in Ireland they cannot make such a demand, they cannot have one rule for residents and another for EU citizens, you can complain to the Ombudsman in Ireland about that. Do that.

Honest · Post by **Honest** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 5:37 pm

@ Biscayne

Could you please provide me with any link or more specific information where exactly to complain?

leisl · Post by **leisl** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 8:29 pm

Try complaining direct with the department first - this is what I meant about asking them why they're discriminating. EU law etc. They're supposed to grant banking equality stuff across the EU (although, as we've seen in Finland, banks themselves can interpret rules as they see fit). IIRC, Ryanair were slapped for something similar in regards to country of residence.

This was the whole point of the IBAN system, to make inter-country transfers seamless.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Sat Oct 01, 2016 1:26 am

I'd still go with carrier pigeons with bullion stuffed up its arse...

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