Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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10:13:27am
Now that is a good question.
I have also wondered why a few UK sellers or collectors have no problem accepting greenback dollars while other prefer to lose the business.
It must be that some people have discovered how to convert dollars to something useful without excessive transaction fees and others either haven't found that solution or are simply not willing to look for it.
I know, of course, that some collectors and dealers have enough business this side of the ocean to just use dollars for purchases here and one friend visits Florida on vacation often enough to just hold dollars to spend at Disney World.
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It does seem to be dependent on the financial institutions. I haven't travelled in the U.S. for several years, but when I did I found that almost no one would accept Canadian currency, much less cheques. In Sedona, Arizona, a stamp shop owner gave me a bag of Canadian quarters, more than $20 worth, because his bank would accept them. I used to pay U.S. sellers with U.S.-dollar bank draughts from my credit union; there's normally a stiff service charge for them, but since I turned 55 they've been free. Now, whenever possible, I use PayPal, which is even better than sliced bread.
Bob
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I just checked my Banks fee's and there charges for Cheques are:
Cheque processed in foreign currency on a Canadian Dollar account where the Canadian equivalent of the cheque amount is :
Under $1,000: $10.00
$1,000 and over: $15.00
I think I might have to look at my terms again....
Alyn
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It would be "interesting" to learn why a cheque of more than $1,000 costs $5 more to process than one of less than $1,000. It couldn't possibly be a cash grab, could it? Don't banks work for their customers rather than against them?
I meant to mention that my credit union here in Vancouver charges nothing at all for processing U.S. cheques. My Veterans Administration disability pension has been electronically deposited every month for the last few years; before that, I got the cheques by mail. No fees for depositing the cheques has ever been charged, and if the Canadian dollar is below par with the U.S. dollar, which it usually is, I get a bit of a bonus. (The disability payments are tax free, as well, so I can help support Stamporama's dealers! ;-)
Bob
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Hi everyone.
The CIBC does not charge me anything to DEPOSIT a cheque in US funds into my CDN$, but I have a Senior's Account. If you do not have a Senior's Account, depending on your bank plan, you pay a fee per deposit. Some bank plans where you pay a set amount per month in fees, you get a certain number of deposits and cheques written in CDN$ for free.
NOTE: To write and send a cheque to the USA in US$ there is a $20.00 per cheque fee, however, if the payee of the cheque negotiates the cheque at a financial institution outside Canada, that institution may not accept the cheque or may deduct a large fee from the cheque’s face value. The transaction fee shown is for cheques written in U.S. currency only.
There is also a bank fee for purchasing blank cheques.
To purchase a money order in any currency the CIBC charges $7.50.
https://www.cibc.com/ca/pdf/personal-acct-service-fees-en.pdf
Liz
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I just checked with my bank (Scotia Bank) on my lunch and was told that there is no fee to deposit US Cheques into my account. The cheque however will be held for 21 days.
I will check my statement in about a month to see what happens, with the deposit I made today at the ATM/ABM. I told the bank that the website states there is a $10 fee for Cheques under $1000.
Bob, I believe that perhaps a certain amount of gouging may be going on with the Bank's service fees.
Alyn
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12:45:17pm
" ... Gouging ?..."
Surely not.
" ... by banks ..."
Surely you jest.
I simply cannot believe that a bank that holds your money would gouge its customers.
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An added note: Businesses in Canada accept US coins at par as if they were Canadian coins. The last time I was in the USA there was nowhere that would accept Canadian coins or CDN paper currency or CDN cheques. That was several years ago.
I wonder if employees in US financial institutions would accept Salt Spring Dollars (which is a legal tender on this island)? I can almost visualize the expression on their faces when presenting one of the Salt Spring banknotes. I would probably be arrested at gunpoint, shackled and put out to dry for trying to cash what they thought was counterfeit money. LOL
Liz
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I haven't had a problem cashing US cheques at TD Canada Trust, with no service charge to boot. In these days of ATMs and on-line shopping, it just means that it's an extra trip to the bank to deposit them in person.
Andrew
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< sarcasm >
Of course it is in jest, why my bank would never try to make exorbitant money off me
< /sarcasm >
Alyn
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07:47:49pm
" ... I wonder if employees in US financial institutions would accept Salt Spring Dollars ..."
Salt Island Dollara , Hahaha, that would be a great Joke, Liz.
I frequently buy whatever stock of the current US Presidential one dollar coins my Credit Union teller has in her drawer when I make a deposit, usually ten of twenty at a time, to give to my grandchildren. To some degree it works as a learning lesson as they do look at them and match up the presidents coin with a chart we have posted on a nearby wall, and when possible I generate a discussion at the dinner table about the individual presidents bing commemorated.
However, they often dispose of the dead presidents at the local Wall-Mart or one of the severa local convenience stores. At Wal-Marts this often involves the clerks entering a huddle worthy of the Green Bay Packers trying to convert 3rd and eighteen and sometimes a consultation with senior store management and a security officer.
Presidential Dollars
One afternoon we were in a Circle K convenience store and one of the older grands drew a Slurpee into a paper cup. I also filled the largest 44oz. container as it was a hot day. At the counter, she presented two of the dollar coins that I had handed to her to use plus some other change as payment and the clerk refused to accept the play money. It didn't help that one of the coins was Chester A Arthur and the other was either Benjamin or William Harrison and not the slightly better known Washington or Jefferson. A small argument ensued with me telling my grand daughter that since we had placed the appropriate change on the counter we could leave. The clerk swore she was calling the police and I said "Good, we will be sitting on the chairs outside enjoying our drinks."
She actually walked out and wrote down the license plate number of my van lest we abscond with the fruits of our nefarious scheme to defraud the store. In due course one of the local deputies arrived (Who I actually knew from my shop before I retired.) and after examining the coins we all had a good laugh, althongh I sometimes still feel daggers being launched when I stop at that store since then, if that clerk is on duty.
So, I suspect Salt Island Dollars would create quite a stir in Central Florida. But it could be fun.
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Ah, but you must understand a couple of things:
- money only has value if people agree that it has value.
- on US paper money it states "This note is legal tender for all debts public and private." Coinage does not have that phrase, and does not have to be accepted for a public or private debt. Therefore, when someone sends $10,000 in pennies to IRS to pay federal income tax, IRS does not have to accept those pennies as payment. In today's economy, however, I doubt IRS will reject payment of any kind... lol
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Michael78651,
While you are correct that no one can force individuals to accept certain denominations (such as vending machine that does not accept pennies as a matter of policy), that does not mean that coins are not legal tender.
The U.S Code (Title 31, IV, Chapter 51.1, Section 5103) states that "United States coins and currency ... are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues." Just because a coin is legal tender, however, does not mean that individuals have to accept that coin as payment (they may specify that certain denominations, or certain quantities of coins, are not accepted as a matter of policy).
I also looked into whether the IRS accepts pennies. Apparently they do, and their regulations (The Internal Revenue Manual 21.3.4.7.2) state that "the IRS must accept cash payments from taxpayers who do not have a check or money order, are unable to obtain one, or insist on paying in cash," but this regulation is followed by:
"21.3.4.7.2
Procedures For Accepting Cash Payments
1. General procedures for accepting cash payments are:
A.Ensure that the taxpayer has the exact amount of the payment. DO NOT MAKE CHANGE.
B. Count the cash carefully in the taxpayer's presence..."
... so much for paying the IRS in pennies
Walden
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04:01:44pm
Just joined the site in the last few days and have been looking over various posts here. I live in Toronto, ON and also bank with TD having both a CAD and a USD account. So I have deposited USD cheques into the appropriate account with absolutely no issue or charges for an out of country cheque (yes correctly spelled up here it is cheque not check).
Now as to US banks. I have in the past been treasurer of a Texas based 501(c)3 corporation that was international in scope. We banked with Bank of America at the time (was about 5 years ago) and had no issue depositing any foreign cheques into the account. I know as I would send cheques (for annual dues payments) to their mail processing centre that were in CAD, EUR, GBP, CHF, AUD and a few other currencies. There would be clearing holds placed on them as is pretty standard, however I do not recall any major fees from the bank for clearing the foreign cheques.
It is interesting how different people can have different experiences with a system that is basically universal.
As an aside to the fellow Canucks out there, have you thought about accepting payments via Interac Email transfer from fellow Canadians?
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Auctions
Am curious as to why some Canadian customers/sellers have very high charges for sending/ receiving personal checks to/from the US and some don't. Is it just certain banks? The exchange rate? I, myself, have had no problems with my bank taking Canadian checks. Mostly, the problem is with my paying with a US check.
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
17 Nov 2011
10:13:27am
re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
Now that is a good question.
I have also wondered why a few UK sellers or collectors have no problem accepting greenback dollars while other prefer to lose the business.
It must be that some people have discovered how to convert dollars to something useful without excessive transaction fees and others either haven't found that solution or are simply not willing to look for it.
I know, of course, that some collectors and dealers have enough business this side of the ocean to just use dollars for purchases here and one friend visits Florida on vacation often enough to just hold dollars to spend at Disney World.
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re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
It does seem to be dependent on the financial institutions. I haven't travelled in the U.S. for several years, but when I did I found that almost no one would accept Canadian currency, much less cheques. In Sedona, Arizona, a stamp shop owner gave me a bag of Canadian quarters, more than $20 worth, because his bank would accept them. I used to pay U.S. sellers with U.S.-dollar bank draughts from my credit union; there's normally a stiff service charge for them, but since I turned 55 they've been free. Now, whenever possible, I use PayPal, which is even better than sliced bread.
Bob
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re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
I just checked my Banks fee's and there charges for Cheques are:
Cheque processed in foreign currency on a Canadian Dollar account where the Canadian equivalent of the cheque amount is :
Under $1,000: $10.00
$1,000 and over: $15.00
I think I might have to look at my terms again....
Alyn
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re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
It would be "interesting" to learn why a cheque of more than $1,000 costs $5 more to process than one of less than $1,000. It couldn't possibly be a cash grab, could it? Don't banks work for their customers rather than against them?
I meant to mention that my credit union here in Vancouver charges nothing at all for processing U.S. cheques. My Veterans Administration disability pension has been electronically deposited every month for the last few years; before that, I got the cheques by mail. No fees for depositing the cheques has ever been charged, and if the Canadian dollar is below par with the U.S. dollar, which it usually is, I get a bit of a bonus. (The disability payments are tax free, as well, so I can help support Stamporama's dealers! ;-)
Bob
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12:12:41pm
re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
Hi everyone.
The CIBC does not charge me anything to DEPOSIT a cheque in US funds into my CDN$, but I have a Senior's Account. If you do not have a Senior's Account, depending on your bank plan, you pay a fee per deposit. Some bank plans where you pay a set amount per month in fees, you get a certain number of deposits and cheques written in CDN$ for free.
NOTE: To write and send a cheque to the USA in US$ there is a $20.00 per cheque fee, however, if the payee of the cheque negotiates the cheque at a financial institution outside Canada, that institution may not accept the cheque or may deduct a large fee from the cheque’s face value. The transaction fee shown is for cheques written in U.S. currency only.
There is also a bank fee for purchasing blank cheques.
To purchase a money order in any currency the CIBC charges $7.50.
https://www.cibc.com/ca/pdf/personal-acct-service-fees-en.pdf
Liz
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re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
I just checked with my bank (Scotia Bank) on my lunch and was told that there is no fee to deposit US Cheques into my account. The cheque however will be held for 21 days.
I will check my statement in about a month to see what happens, with the deposit I made today at the ATM/ABM. I told the bank that the website states there is a $10 fee for Cheques under $1000.
Bob, I believe that perhaps a certain amount of gouging may be going on with the Bank's service fees.
Alyn
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this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
17 Nov 2011
12:45:17pm
re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
" ... Gouging ?..."
Surely not.
" ... by banks ..."
Surely you jest.
I simply cannot believe that a bank that holds your money would gouge its customers.
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12:50:52pm
re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
An added note: Businesses in Canada accept US coins at par as if they were Canadian coins. The last time I was in the USA there was nowhere that would accept Canadian coins or CDN paper currency or CDN cheques. That was several years ago.
I wonder if employees in US financial institutions would accept Salt Spring Dollars (which is a legal tender on this island)? I can almost visualize the expression on their faces when presenting one of the Salt Spring banknotes. I would probably be arrested at gunpoint, shackled and put out to dry for trying to cash what they thought was counterfeit money. LOL
Liz
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this post
re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
I haven't had a problem cashing US cheques at TD Canada Trust, with no service charge to boot. In these days of ATMs and on-line shopping, it just means that it's an extra trip to the bank to deposit them in person.
Andrew
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re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
< sarcasm >
Of course it is in jest, why my bank would never try to make exorbitant money off me
< /sarcasm >
Alyn
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this post
Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
17 Nov 2011
07:47:49pm
re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
" ... I wonder if employees in US financial institutions would accept Salt Spring Dollars ..."
Salt Island Dollara , Hahaha, that would be a great Joke, Liz.
I frequently buy whatever stock of the current US Presidential one dollar coins my Credit Union teller has in her drawer when I make a deposit, usually ten of twenty at a time, to give to my grandchildren. To some degree it works as a learning lesson as they do look at them and match up the presidents coin with a chart we have posted on a nearby wall, and when possible I generate a discussion at the dinner table about the individual presidents bing commemorated.
However, they often dispose of the dead presidents at the local Wall-Mart or one of the severa local convenience stores. At Wal-Marts this often involves the clerks entering a huddle worthy of the Green Bay Packers trying to convert 3rd and eighteen and sometimes a consultation with senior store management and a security officer.
Presidential Dollars
One afternoon we were in a Circle K convenience store and one of the older grands drew a Slurpee into a paper cup. I also filled the largest 44oz. container as it was a hot day. At the counter, she presented two of the dollar coins that I had handed to her to use plus some other change as payment and the clerk refused to accept the play money. It didn't help that one of the coins was Chester A Arthur and the other was either Benjamin or William Harrison and not the slightly better known Washington or Jefferson. A small argument ensued with me telling my grand daughter that since we had placed the appropriate change on the counter we could leave. The clerk swore she was calling the police and I said "Good, we will be sitting on the chairs outside enjoying our drinks."
She actually walked out and wrote down the license plate number of my van lest we abscond with the fruits of our nefarious scheme to defraud the store. In due course one of the local deputies arrived (Who I actually knew from my shop before I retired.) and after examining the coins we all had a good laugh, althongh I sometimes still feel daggers being launched when I stop at that store since then, if that clerk is on duty.
So, I suspect Salt Island Dollars would create quite a stir in Central Florida. But it could be fun.
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08:37:36pm
re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
Ah, but you must understand a couple of things:
- money only has value if people agree that it has value.
- on US paper money it states "This note is legal tender for all debts public and private." Coinage does not have that phrase, and does not have to be accepted for a public or private debt. Therefore, when someone sends $10,000 in pennies to IRS to pay federal income tax, IRS does not have to accept those pennies as payment. In today's economy, however, I doubt IRS will reject payment of any kind... lol
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re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
Michael78651,
While you are correct that no one can force individuals to accept certain denominations (such as vending machine that does not accept pennies as a matter of policy), that does not mean that coins are not legal tender.
The U.S Code (Title 31, IV, Chapter 51.1, Section 5103) states that "United States coins and currency ... are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues." Just because a coin is legal tender, however, does not mean that individuals have to accept that coin as payment (they may specify that certain denominations, or certain quantities of coins, are not accepted as a matter of policy).
I also looked into whether the IRS accepts pennies. Apparently they do, and their regulations (The Internal Revenue Manual 21.3.4.7.2) state that "the IRS must accept cash payments from taxpayers who do not have a check or money order, are unable to obtain one, or insist on paying in cash," but this regulation is followed by:
"21.3.4.7.2
Procedures For Accepting Cash Payments
1. General procedures for accepting cash payments are:
A.Ensure that the taxpayer has the exact amount of the payment. DO NOT MAKE CHANGE.
B. Count the cash carefully in the taxpayer's presence..."
... so much for paying the IRS in pennies
Walden
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Back in the hobby after a 25+ year absence. Currently with VERY few stamps, no albums, no tools, no supplies and LOTS of time! I love a challenge!!! LOL
20 Apr 2012
04:01:44pm
re: Personal Checks to & from Canada.
Just joined the site in the last few days and have been looking over various posts here. I live in Toronto, ON and also bank with TD having both a CAD and a USD account. So I have deposited USD cheques into the appropriate account with absolutely no issue or charges for an out of country cheque (yes correctly spelled up here it is cheque not check).
Now as to US banks. I have in the past been treasurer of a Texas based 501(c)3 corporation that was international in scope. We banked with Bank of America at the time (was about 5 years ago) and had no issue depositing any foreign cheques into the account. I know as I would send cheques (for annual dues payments) to their mail processing centre that were in CAD, EUR, GBP, CHF, AUD and a few other currencies. There would be clearing holds placed on them as is pretty standard, however I do not recall any major fees from the bank for clearing the foreign cheques.
It is interesting how different people can have different experiences with a system that is basically universal.
As an aside to the fellow Canucks out there, have you thought about accepting payments via Interac Email transfer from fellow Canadians?
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