A lot of people questioning the security of bank cheques on another recent post. Thought I'd do a poll as to who has actually received a bank cheque and lost money because it was cancelled.
Edit: Those that have lost money using bank cheques, please share your stories.
I'm thinking any amount that makes paying in cash unreasonable. Like buying a used car or even deposit for a house.
Recently sold a car and got a bank cheque. Got the cheque verified from the issuing bank so all was good.
It usually is more a function of who is giving you the cheque; do they appear trustworthy.
As with all financial transactions, there is always risk involved. But bank cheques help. Even if you accept cash there is still a chance it could be counterfeit.
There's lots of people here saying bank cheques aren't secure and only accept cash. I'm thinking, are these just opinions or have they had real life negative experience with bank cheques. I mean it's a bit unreasonable to carry a suit case of cash to buy a big ticketed item privately.
Or people that have literally no idea how a bank cheque works.
E.g in that recent threat people talking about a bank cheque bouncing…. :/
Lol @ bank cheque bouncing.
And most people have no idea on how bank cheques work. Went to buy a car with a friend and the seller wanted $43k for it. Guy was an absolute pillock and only wanted “cash”. Ask them why… “because bank cheques can bounce”.
Did you buy the car?
@oscargamer: Wasn’t my buy, but friend refused to walk around with $43k in cash. Offered to do bank cheque and get it done up in the branch with us and walk him straight to his bank, nope. Offered to do EFT in branch, no deal. Friend ended up telling him to stick his car up his arse.
I was the other way about it and told him to give him his $43k in cash and make it all out in $5 notes.
I haven't followed bank cheque fraud for years and most of the web links no longer work. Because the industry consider bank cheques the same as personal cheques, bank cheque fraud is not specifically tracked, just cheque fraud overall. Media wise it's a 'slow news day' kind of story and very few are made public.
ABC 7.30 Report, 21/03/2002: 200 St George Bank cheques were stolen off the front seat of a private courier van in Melbourne.
"As far as the industry is concerned, a bank cheque is worthless until it's cleared and therefore there's no need to transport them under high security."
"Bank cheques are open to forgery. They're open to being counterfeited. Really they're only a piece of paper with writing on them. There's no real way of verifying the validity of the cheque that you have in front of you."
"according to the banks, until they're cleared, bank cheques are just pieces of paper."
A couple of those cheques were used to buy a $32,000 bobcat and a $16,000 ride-on lawnmower.
2002: Westpac Banking Corp Ltd has issued a warning to merchants to be aware of accepting bank cheques as payment. The bank said a number of counterfeit Westpac bank cheques had been passed around Sydney in recent weeks to pay for goods such as fridges, computers and motor vehicles.
2003: For weeks about 50 stolen bank cheques from two Sydney branches of the NAB have been circulating.
They have been exchanged for expensive sought-after goods, from hot-water systems and cars to lots of Harleys - but the bank failed to issue any public warnings.
having dealt with bank cheques for most of his life, Mr Barker had no qualms taking a National Australia Bank (NAB) cheque for $23,000 for his Harley motorbike. Three weeks later he had lost his money and his old Harley.
Courier Robert Hart also accepted an NAB cheque for $21,000 in exchange for his beloved Harley…But like Mr Barker, Mr Hart discovered three days after banking the cheque that he had been conned. Not only were the buyers crooks with false IDs, the cheques had been stolen from the NAB and the $21,000 in his account had been taken back by the bank.
Like the other victims, Gary Colligan had advertised his Harley in the classifieds. Mr Colligan settled with an NAB [$25,000] cheque…"The cheque that was banked on Tuesday was a fraud cheque."
It's been a similar story for small business owners David and Kerry Linke; a month ago they sold 16 hot-water systems for more than $16,000 - money they have never seen.
2010: …presented Talbot with a bank guaranteed cheque totalling $28,600, the combined price of the two forklifts.
According to Talbot, the man filled out the paperwork, using the business details of a genuine company, and left with the forklifts. He then deposited the cheque, which was accepted by his bank, but was phoned the following day to be told that it had been dishonoured by CBA as it was a stolen cheque.
Steven Münchenberg, chief executive of the Australian Bankers' Association (ABA), tells Forkliftaction.com News that bank cheques are like any other cheque - they have to be cleared before they are honoured by the bank. A cheque is cleared for the customer to withdraw funds when it is paid by the other bank. Cheque clearance takes three days as it is still a paper system.
2013: A guy stole 800 Commonwealth Bank bank cheques while they were in transit, and bought himself four truck engines, two forklifts and a bulldozer. He was arrested after an investigation by Queensland's Identity Crime Unit.
Banks consider bank cheques the same as personal cheques, both require clearance and the receiver does not have the funds until it clears.
A bank cheque is marked ‘Not Negotiable’, which means that, unlike cash, if a person steals the cheque and gives it to someone else in exchange for something of value, the person who receives the cheque is not entitled to keep the proceeds of the cheque even when they are unaware that the cheque was stolen.
Anyway, banks are phasing out cheques, so it won't be an issue much longer. Eg, ANZ:
ANZ will no longer issue Bank cheques after 31 May 2021. We will continue to honour any ANZ Bank cheques issued prior to this date, subject to usual requirements.
Anyway, banks are phasing out cheques, so it won't be an issue much longer. Eg, ANZ
Wow didn't know that
Wonder if it's more of a cost cutting issue rather than a security issue. Like needing to go to a branch to have it issued (they are closing branches), paper, printing and labour costs
@42: It's not security measure. The banks aren't promising that a bank cheque you receive is guaranteed or as good as cash, they tell you to wait for it to clear - as stated on the 7.30 Report (above): "As far as the industry is concerned, a bank cheque is worthless until it's cleared".
@Thrift: I'm guessing in case it's a stolen or counterfeit cheque. If you go with the seller to get the cheque from the bank, that should guarantee is genuine.
Also counterfeiting can happen with cash, you would need to look carefully at each bill to make sure that stack of cash you received from a private purchase was genuine
I'd do a pole
A lot of polls here, is a bit like that. :)
Haha, my phone kept on writing back instead bank as well
Like blub instead of bulb
Bonut instead of bonnet
Ragrets instead of regrets
I blame it on my NSW public education
Please share your story if you have been scammed by bank cheque
I advertised a car for sale a few years ago and had an offer for the full price from a buyer supposedly in England who wanted to ship the car to South Africa. No red flags there so I went ahead with the deal haha. I agreed to accept payment via bank cheque. There was an extra $5k or so included in the cheque, which I was to transfer to the "shipper" once the cheque cleared. A Commonwealth Bank cheque arrived by mail, which I duly presented to the bank. I explained the dodgy circumstances. The teller said that the cheque appeared authentic and the money would normally be deposited into my account and cleared for withdrawal, but after 3 weeks or so the cheque would work its way through the bank system and be identified as fraudulent. At that point I would be required to repay the full amount to the bank. The bank asked to keep the cheque for training purposes. I was pretty shocked to find that even after the cheque was cleared by the bank I was liable for their "mistake" several weeks after the event. This was about 10 years ago, so hopefully the banking system has improved since then.
I think counterfeiting can happen with cheques and cash.
Was it a bank cheque or a normal cheque though?
Yeah, I’m not buying it… not how bank cheques work. You can’t be on the hook for for a bank cheque. Nice story though.
Yeah it is a nice story - and it happens to be true. Maybe the bank teller got it wrong but it happened as described. Actually it was longer than 10 years ago - more like 2006. FWIW I have no anti bank cheque agenda. I've used them for buying and selling and would happily use them again.
Hence the need to verify with the community.
The problem here is that the tin foil hat wearing “cAsH iS KiNg” peanuts will flood in here eventually with stories of their father’s best friend’s wife’s sister’s husband’s step father sold a car in 1978 and lost money on a bounced $800 bank cheque.
Even in that other thread where a majority of other people said it was a safe payment method when used correctly, OP still said that they don’t trust it and made the buyer bring $17k cash with them.
The problem is, you are not really verifying anything, you are asking for people’s anecdotal experience, of which most of the agenda pushers will lie about their experience anyway…
So far the poll is debunking anecdotes from the other thread. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the oil. I'm trying to hear from all the "wheels" to get a more balanced view
There are people who confuse bank cheques with personal cheques.
Probably the same people who think their CTP insurance covers damage to other cars.
Wait. What? So you're saying..
I think some are confusing the two. Bank cheques are the one where the bank issues it for you and it costs like $10-15 to get one. The amount you want in the bank cheque is also deducted from your bank account so not sure why it has to be cleared first.
5 people voted they got scammed via bank cheque but we only heard a single story that sounded suss as (did the originating bank actually confirm it was authentic?).
Gives you an idea what these kinds of polls are worth.
Bank cheques are very widely used. If they were as insecure or could be cancelled as easily as people seem to think, they would not be.
Real estate is the obvious example. Anyone who has ever sold a property has been paid by bank cheque. The cheque (or more often cheques) are treated by the seller as equivalent to cash and the transfer documents handed over when the cheques are received (not when they clear).
There is obviously a risk of counterfeit cheques being used, but I don't see why this risk would be any greater than the risk of counterfeit currency being used.
Or hacked/stolen bank accounts used in electronic transfers. Nothing is infallible, including cash. I remember the newsagent holding my $100 bill to the light and checking the note when I paying, so obviously counterfeit bills are still happening.
You usually get bank cheques for large amounts for more formal transactions usually with specialists involved. And there is a cost to using them.
What amounts do you receive for your bank cheques and for what transactions?