GBC

We have family in Hastings and a birthday is coming up soon. From Philadelphia, is there an easy way to send a gift of US$100.. Will a personal check drawn on a US bank work and if so, will they incur a large fee to cash it?

Thanks in advance for your help.

nytraveler

You can't deposit a check in dollars in the UK - it has to be changed to pounds (at a high fee and poor exchange rate) before use. You might want to consider a Visa gift check if you can get one for a low fee - and find out what the exchange rate should be (if more than 2% don;t do it).

janisj

Do a wire transfer - your bank can do it. There will be fees - but the money will go straight from your account into theirs.

runningtab

Well, you CAN deposit a check in US dollars into a UK bank, but the recipient will probably pay about $20 for the privilege, so no, that's not a good idea. Send an international draft, which will cost you about $5.00. A wire transfer is also prohibitively expensive for an amount of $100 - it will run you about $25.00.

janisj

Maybe it depends on the bank/type of account. Wire transfers cost me less, but that may be a perk of my account.

But an international draft would work too . . . .

spaarne

I sent a $100 bill to a friend in Holland last Monday by air mail. It arrived on Saturday. There will be a fee for converting it to euros but it won't be nearly as much as the banks would charge for a wire transfer.

bigtyke

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