When ordering various family history records from England, payment often must be in the form of a pound sterling cheque.
How do I obtain a pound sterling cheque while living in the United States?
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3@JohnDoe I wanted to give you my advice on this. From personal experience living abroad I know that there is no point in getting a pound sterling cheque because you will pay an arm and a leg for it. You should speak to the record office directly about other payment options, and consider whether it may be more economical to hire a local researcher to copy the records. You may also see if you know anyone in the UK who could purchase the records for you and then scan/email/post them to you, and then transfer the funds by Paypal or similar.– vervetOct 19, 2015 at 23:08
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Hardly anyone in the UK wants cheques these days. Generally copies are ordered and paid for online, and while you may be charged for a currency conversion, your US debit or credit card should be fine.– Andrew LeachOct 20, 2015 at 15:05
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1@AndrewLeach Local Register Offices are well behind the times and very often insist on cheques for payment... and never offer an online ordering service (the GRO is better set up).– user34241Oct 20, 2015 at 16:47
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1 Answer
Most US banks don't allow you the ability to draft a foreign currency check from USD. Though, I know Canadian banks are more workable. For instance, TD allows you to do this from CAD to many other currencies for a small fee. I believe even as a US Citizen you can quite easily open a TD Trust account and you'd be good to go. Also, at one time Zions bank was one of the few which lets US customers do this add-hoc. And there is a fee associated. Even as a business, you can't usually do this without jumping thru hoops and proving your business dealings in foreign countries. Most businesses who do this often will opt to using a payment processor service from a 3rd party which cuts checks in foreign currencies at a monthly and per check base.
Your other option, which may be more feasible if you're planning on doing this often, would be to open a British bank account. But this can be difficult if not impossible due to the strict money laundering anti-fraud regulations. Many banks simply won't do it. But, you might try a few of the newer British banks like Tesco, Virgin and Metro.
