Accepting foreign currencies for my business. How can my business
accept checks denominated in English Pounds, Euros, Yen, Yuan and
Canadian Dollars and what would the associated fees be?

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Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 27 Mar 2006 08:59 PST

Dear B3jz

There are several providers for this kind of service. However, most do
not disclose their fees; or have different fees for different types of
accounts and activities. Would you like an answer that would include
such services, but without fees?

I work for a financial institution collecting on checks or drafts from
foreign countries in foreign currencies. My financial institution ( a
credit union ) does not charge fees for such services, but almost
every foreign financial institution from which checks are drawn on (
the banks foreign checks come out of ) do charge fees - my experience
has been fees are kept to a US$30 per check charge given the check
isn't for an exhorbitant amount. There is more than one fee associated
with collecting on checks you should be aware of: Fees by YOUR bank,
fees by the bank the check comes from, fees for rate of exchange
conversion (which may or may not be done "in house" at the foreign
bank), fees for special collection items - say you recieve a check
from an Australian Money Order which cannot be directly converted into
US Dollars (due to reasons I am not specifically aware of) unless you
take an intermediate step. I would suggest talking with your financial
institution ( I would suggest a credit union if at all possible - they
have fewer fees ) and finding out their process. Also, please keep in
mind that when collecting on foreign checks, it often takes months
before the full transaction takes place,if anything happens during
that time say papers get put in the wrong place, the MICR line at the
bottom of the check becomes damaged, altered, or a CHECK 21 - a legal
copy of a check- is created erroneously, a check may be subject to a
different exchange rate, which may or may not be in your favor. I hope
this helps, let me know if you'd like any more information!

And it is not just the hassle and expense of getting the checks deposited.
The checks can bounce for insufficient funds or be blocked. If your
business is selling and receiving checks as payment, you really don't
know if you have good funds for six to eight weeks, maybe longer. 
Furthermore, outside of America, payment by check  - especially for
international transactions -  is very unusual and not an expected form
of payment.
I don't think that you will be enhancing your marketing effort by
offering to accept payment by check.