Using Euro TCs for deposits
 

I know this has been discussed before, but today I made two deposit payments for European apartments for next summer. One was to an individual owner in France for 300 euro, and the other was to an individual owner in Italy for 200 euro. I had exchanged several emails with them. Both told me that they checked with their banks and there would be no charge to deposit euro Travelers Cheques at full face value, the one said she's done that several times. So I bought them at AAA yesterday.
Cost: Each 100 euro TC cost exactly $134.00
That's an exchange rate of 1.34
Yesterday's XE rate was 1.2804. So at first glance I was paying about 5% over cost.

Yet I'm curious if anyone has a suggestion of what would have worked better? One owner said she often gets Western Union money orders in euros. I checked that. A 300 euro one would have cost me just over $450 instead of the $402 the three TCs cost me.
I checked with my bank and there is a $25 charge per bank transfer -- never mind what the exchange rate would be on top of that. The way I look at it, the 300 euro deposit cost me $18 and the 200 one cost me $12. That doesn't include the 86 cent stamps I put on each, so bank transfers would have cost much more.

I mentioned PayPal to both, and neither had heard of it, so I didn't pursue them registering to accept that.

I'm mainly asking for others' benefit and for future reference. It still seems like a relatively easy and inexpensive way to send deposits from the US to Europe. In any case I'm not quibbling over the $30 total cost for sending the two cash deposits.

That's interesting facts. It seems to me that you did it about the least cost possible, and I do find it interesting that both those folks had banks that said no charge for depositing euro TCs. I know we have no charge in the US for depositing USD TCs in our accounts, but some European residents on here have said Eur. banks charge for that. I don't know, I thought that was kind of odd myself, but maybe banks over there have bad customer service. LIke my bank in the US doesn't charge me just because I deposit a check from another bank (which most of them are), and I don't see why euro TCs would be that different as any other check in terms of administration.

I thought AAA charged a little more than that, also, but five percent isn't too bad. The only thing cheaper I can recall is I believe StCirq who used to post on here said her bank will do some transfer to Europe for her for free or almost free. I don't remember the details, but I think, as you checked out, most banks won't. I think maybe that was because she had some special bank account as she did a lot of business abroad, but for the average tourist renting an apt. for a couple weeks, that wouldn't apply. I'm not sure.

I don't like PayPal myself and wouldn't want to register with it to suit someone else, either.

The only cheaper option I can think of is sending a US$ personal check to be held in lieu of the deposit and returned when the rent is paid on arrival.

I've found maybe 75% of the places I've rented are happy to do that - but I more often rent from individual owners rather than agencies. Renting from an agency makes that harder - but then again, many agencies do accept credit cards.

What's the advantage in sending t/c's (which you've obviously had to countersign before posting) over sending currency notes?

FWIW, both my British banks charge about £10 to accept foreign cheques drawn in major currencies (which includes yen, CHF, AUD and several more). Which is - just - less than the €15 Neo's paying AAA in this case. Are their Italian and French competitors really less helpful?

Incidentally, Western Union has a flat fee for intra-European payments (like GBPs into Romanian leu), which works out cheaper than Neo's discovery for payments over about £400. The fee does seem a lot higher when the payment's originating outside Europe, though.

But it's worth remembering for Britons buying property in Bulgaria or Croatia,

flanneruk,

my recollection of TCs is that they can be signed over to a designated person, like any check. In that respect they are not like cash.

Hi Patrick,

You did well.

janisj's suggestion is better if the renter will go for it.

((I))

I have had a couple owners in the past accept US checks and hold them. I had always wondered if they would be able to deposit them if someone cancelled out on them. Let's face it. They aren't worth a thing. If someone cancels, all he has to do is also put a stop payment on the check and the owner will never collect a penny. How could they?

I have asked both owners to let me know if there is any charge from their banks for depositing the euro TC's, but both seem pretty confident there won't be. I would never send a deposit in US dollar TC's however, as who knows what kind of rate their bank would give them and how much more it would end up costing me.

By the way, the guy at AAA insisted that if the checks were lost or even intercepted (stolen) in the mail, that I can get a full refund on them, even though they've already been double signed. I wasn't so sure about that. And I don't know about elsewhere, but our AAA issues Visa TC's now, no longer American Express ones. I think that's why they're cheaper than they used to be, Christina.

Hi NP,

>the guy at AAA insisted that if the checks were lost or even intercepted (stolen) in the mail, that I can get a full refund on them, even though they've already been double signed. I wasn't so sure about that.<

If you have made them out to a particular entity they have to be endorsed by that entity.

That's how they can tell if it was stolen.

((I))

Interesting. . . but these VISA travelers checks are not made out to anyone. There is a place for the buyer to sign when purchasing them, and a line to countersign when turning them over. But there is no line for a "pay to" like the old TC's I was familiar with. So actually there is no name on the ones I sent as to who may cash them.

Hi

Travellers cheques will become obsolete very soon.

I use AFEX (http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/afex.htm) for moving money around but they don't do small one off amounts.

If you get the right bank credit cards (check carefully) are a pretty good way to do it.

Peter

Not, if individual owners don't take credit cards, Peter. Maybe I didn't make it clear that in neither of these cases were the owners set up to accept credit cards.

I've paid for many items I have purchased from Europe by sending the sellers a bank draft in euros. This is a guranteed payment (versus a personal check), drawn on a bank in the receiving country ( in my case, France, and Societe General). Of the many I have sent, only one was ever refused at the receiving end, this in a small town.
Much cheaper than a wire transfer. I have also been able to re-deposit the draft back in my bank account (the one seller whose bank refused it returned it to me) and have also been able to cancel and get my money back (seller cancelled sale and threw out the draft).

Hope this helps

Mike

Addendum:

And the local bank did not charge the receiver any fees to cash the draft....

I got some VISA AAA TCs not too long ago, although I got mine in USD for versatility. I was surprised Patrick said there is no "pay to" line (which I didn't always used to fill out), so looked at them. There is actually a place you can fill out a specific name, although I admit it isn't quite as obvious as on the AMEX ones, so you could miss it. But there is a line saying "pay in order to:" or something very similar, and a blank space next to it, so I assume you can write a specific person or company name in there. The wording was very similar to the AMEX TCs, but there was a line on them that made it very obvious. So, I think that would be more secure than just leaving them blank. They always were supposed to be like checks, and that's like a check where you can put cash or someone's name. Anyway, that's what it looks like to me, although luckily most things don't go astray in the mail.

It's strange how they won't take them as easily in Europe as they used to. At least, at exchange bureaus and official places that are in business like that. I could understand why small businesses etc didn't want to fool with them, but they wouldn't even take them at exchange bureaux in Poland when I was there last summer. They do with no problem in Paris, however. But I mainly got them for backup, and plan to use them in Mexico, where they really like them. So that's why I think it's odd how they have no problem cashing TCs in Mexico (even smaller shops), and they do in Europe. My hotel in Mexico told me they'd give me a 5 pct discount or so if I paid either in USD or in US TCs, rather than by credit card. They make no distinction in cash or TCs.

As for the bank draft thing -- if that's like a cashier's check, I don't think it is guaranteed payment at all, although some people think it is. The buyer can cancel them, for example, just like stopping payment on a check. In fact, Michel, you yourself said you'd been able to cancel the bank draft and get your money back. I think the only difference in that and a regular check is that at least it was guaranteed you had the money to pay for it at the time of purchase, unlike making out a check -- although that still isn't a guarantee the person you give it to can cash it.