Charges for lodging/clearing € cheques drawn on French bank

TM

Hi there

I recently lodged two € denominated cheques (one for €1.3K and another for €100  so total €1.4K) drawn on a French bank. The transaction appeared on the online statement as "Foreign Exchg" and the amount actually lodged was €1,387. Can you please explain how the charges of €13 arise? I looked here but cannot figure out where the €13 comes from:


http://personalbanking.bankofireland.com/fs/doc/37-374ru-12-schedule-of-international-transaction-dl.pdf


In fact from reading this I would have expected the transaction to be free?


Thanks a lot

Bank of Ireland: Pat

Hi TM,

Thanks for your query. 

In Section 1 of the brochure that you've linked to you will see a section that covers the purchase of cheques, drafts, etc. On the pricing table that's shown, (a) In euro, you'll see that cheques with a value of 875 to 3,000 euro will incur a charge of 1% of the cheque value. 1% of the 1300 cheque that you lodged would amount to the 13 euro charge that you've received.

In the notes section below the table, part 2 explains that cross-border cheques in euro, up to a value of 275 euro per day are exempt from the charge. The 100 euro cheque that was lodged would be covered by this exemption and would not be liable for any charges.

Please also note that the brochure covering the Schedule of International Transaction Charges has been updated. The section relevant to your query has not changed. You can find the new brochure here.

I hope this answers your question. If there's anything else we can help you with, please let us know.

Thanks
Pat

beachhead

Hi,
Next time you have a Euro cheque go to your credit union if you have an account there.Most of them dont charge-you get the exact amount of the cheque lodged into your cu a/c.I had the same problem with PTSB,I lodged a cheque at the counter & got a receipt with a transaction charge.I asked for my cheque back,which I got after a huff.It was the sneaky way it was done that pissed me off-no prior warning of charging for a euro cheque.Credit Unions are a gift.

TM

Bank of Ireland: Pat wrote: »

In Section 1 of the brochure that you've linked to you will see a section that covers the purchase of cheques, drafts, etc. On the pricing table that's shown, (a) In euro, you'll see that cheques with a value of 875 to 3,000 euro will incur a charge of 1% of the cheque value. 1% of the 1300 cheque that you lodged would amount to the 13 euro charge that you've received.

In the notes section below the table, part 2 explains that cross-border cheques in euro, up to a value of 275 euro per day are exempt from the charge. The 100 euro cheque that was lodged would be covered by this exemption and would not be liable for any charges.

Please also note that the brochure covering the Schedule of International Transaction Charges has been updated. The section relevant to your query has not changed. You can find the new brochure here.

I hope this answers your question. If there's anything else we can help you with, please let us know.

Thanks
Pat

Hi Pat

Thanks for the reply but I don't understand how the lodgement of the €1.3K cheque drawn on a French bank is considered a "purchase of cheques/drafts/traveller's cheques/other paper instruments"?

Also - some constructive feedback - that charges sheet is not exactly customer friendly and easy to understand.

beachhead - thanks for that tip. Might come in useful next time. 1% to lodge a € cheque seems a bit steep to me.

(And I know that electronic payments would be better but in this case the payer insists on cheques).

Bank of Ireland: Pat

Hi TM,

When you lodge a cheque to your account, Bank of Ireland is essentially purchasing it from you for the value that the cheque is made out for.

Apologies if the brochure is not clear on this point. I will forward on your comments as feedback to our Global Markets team for consideration if future updated printings. In the mean time, if you have any other questions, please let us know and we do our best to answer them for you.

Thanks
Pat

TM

Bank of Ireland: Pat wrote: »

Hi TM,

When you lodge a cheque to your account, Bank of Ireland is essentially purchasing it from you for the value that the cheque is made out for.

Thanks but .... so BoI are buying €1.3K for €1.3K but charging 1%/€13 for the privilege? Why? I presume that there are costs to clearing the cheque but the charge seems very steep...

Bank of Ireland: Pat

Hi TM,

You are correct, the 1% charge is in place to cover the clearing costs and other associated costs. Regrettably we do not have a more detailed breakdown of the charge and wouldn't be in a position to discuss reasoning behind the pricing structures that are in place.

Thanks
Pat

TM

Ok - thanks for dealing with this query. My parting shot is that the charges seem a bit high and the charges sheet is really not customer friendly and could be improved in my opinion. Thanks again.