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I have little knowledge about cheques and their process so please ask for more info if needed.

Scenario

A person close to me wanted to suprise me with a cheque for Christmas. We both live in seperate countries at the moment and thus she specifically went out of her way (and paid extra) for what she called a Euro cheque. This cheque meant that the money was taken out of her account and held by the bank until it was cashed in.

As of recent my bank only allows cheques to be sent off to the main office for clearance, and are no longer allowed to be lodged at my or any branch.

I sent the cheque she gave me and it got rejected with the reason:"No account relationship with bank." Although this was surely annoying, it's not the main problem.

Problem

I have told her that the cheque got rejected so she could cancel it. Her bank has insisted that she can only cancel such a cheque whilst it's in her possesion.

I rang up my bank a few times now and have had no luck in getting the right people on the phone (I know..). My bank also states in the rejection email that the returning of a rejected cheque is not guaranteed.

Questions

  • Is it standard for a bank to need the cheque to cancel it? (what about if it was intercepted, surely you can cancel before you're plunderd?)

  • Is there any way to bypass this?

  • What can I do to swiftly get that cheque back off the bank?

Any tips or help is greatly appreciated as both she and I are not in posession of the money/cheque in question right now.

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    Is this what you're referencing?
    – Nosrac
    Commented Jan 25, 2017 at 16:44
  • As far as I remember, the physical possession of the paper Eurocheque is the value in it; it is guaranteed to be. Therefore, of course the bank cannot cancel or refund it without getting the original paper cheque back. The foreign bank probably does not understand that; you'll need to make it clear to them so they can mail you the cheque back (maybe for a fee).
    – Aganju
    Commented Jan 26, 2017 at 5:21
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    @DanielCarson According to that Wikipedia article, they stopped issuing Eurocheques 15 years ago.
    – Ben Miller
    Commented Jan 27, 2017 at 3:40
  • @BenMiller yes, which confuses me. Is it an inaccurate article? Is there another payment method called a "Euro cheque" that I cannot find online? Is C_B referring to something else?
    – Nosrac
    Commented Jan 27, 2017 at 3:44
  • I suspect they just mean a cheque (possibly a bankers' draft) denominated in Euros.
    – Vicky
    Commented Jan 27, 2017 at 8:43

1 Answer 1

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Is it standard for a bank to need the cheque to cancel it? (what about if it was intercepted, surely you can cancel before you're plundered?)

Generally it makes life easy for the Bank. They can physically see the cheque and are assured that it has not been cashed.

Bank can put a hold / stop on the cheque. However given today's Banking it is complex with multiple systems and specially with international clearing taking months ... the cheque could have been cashed and the Bank that issued may only get to know about it month later.

Is there any way to bypass this?

Best is for your friend to correspond in writing. The rejection email from your Bank should also go into the communication. And follow-ups every 15 days all in writing. Generally after tons of follow-up Banks would pay it off.

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