Check Cashing for Offshore Clients: Service Updates
Here at Offshore Pro Group we have offered online check or cheque cashing services for many years. We are proud to be one of the few companies to offer cheque cashing service over the internet – we can help you cash US checks, Euro cheques, foreign cheques, Canadian checks and indeed any kind of government or cashier’s cheque, bank draft etc.
While many check cashing outlets do not accept third party checks, we do! Any personal, corporate or third party check of any size can be considered by professional underwriters for fast international clearing, with the proceeds being sent to you by international bank transfer or by cryptocurrency. This service is also available for white-labelling by fintech businesses. For more details, please refer to our international cheque cashing service page.
Why People Use Cheques
There are many reasons why people might use cheques. As bank transfers have become more cumbersome, checks are experiencing a renaissance for international payments because they are cheap and easy. Whilst banks can easily refuse to send money out of your account for compliance reasons, it is very hard for them to bounce a cheque that you have written provided the funds are available on your account.
Cheques (or checks) are going out of use in many parts of the world. They are being replaced by plastic cards and various electronic payment devices. In Germany, for example, checks cannot be cashed any longer.
At the same time, this is not where things stand everywhere. In France, making out checks is still a widespread practice. French consumers often prefer using their checkbooks to paying with plastic cards!
Why? Inertia and traditionalism can serve as one possible explanation. However, some business owners in France provide a more reasonable argument for their love for checks. They point out that using a payment card always involves service fees – while banks do not charge any extra for setting up a checking account nor using the checkbook. When dining at a French restaurant or café, you had better look around for a ‘no cards’ sign because some places in the country will only accept cash or checks.
The British banks wanted to follow Germany’s example and eradicate checks (or cheques). But they were forced to change their minds under intense pressure from the public. People in Great Britain are so used to paying by cheques that they are not ready to drop this habit just yet.
As far as the use of checks in the USA is concerned, trillions of dollars are still paid by checks annually even though it has to be admitted that fewer personal checks are written today in comparison to the 1990s.
Checks may not be used so often in supermarkets these days, but utility bills are still often paid by checks in the United States. What is more, various US Government agencies make their payments by checks and this way of doing things can hardly be expected to change overnight.
Let us consider the following example. Suppose a foreign national registers a Limited Liability Company in the USA. Registering companies in the USA is beneficial for several reasons, and a large number of non-residents have American-based companies or LLCs. Now suppose the foreign company owner receives a tax refund from the IRS. In what form is he or she going to receive it? Correct, in the form of a check.
In case this person does not have an account with a US bank, s/he may face serious problems trying to cash it in another country. A few years ago, most banks around the world would accept US checks for deposit, but that is changing now as US checks are considered high risk and many banks are trying to avoid paper-based transactions altogether.
Now imagine another situation. Suppose somebody’s (foreign) bank account has been closed without any notice. (Unfortunately, this happens quite often now and not only in the USA but in Europe, Latin America, and other parts of the world.) In this case, the bank will typically issue a check in the account holder’s name for the closing balance. This is then a problem for this person if he or she does not have an account in the same name somewhere else to deposit the check.
It is convenient to make payments by checks and thus, people and organizations are going to continue paying by checks. This is especially true for US Government agencies and such giant corporations as Google or PayPal, for example. It may not be so convenient for the payee, i.e. the person in whose name the check is written… but it is hard to argue with the big and powerful. So what do you do if you are not a US citizen but you have been paid by a check and the amount is indicated in the US dollars there?
Offshore Pro Group offers a handy solution. We can set you up quickly and easily with an international company that specializes in check cashing services. Moreover, it specializes in cashing US dollar checks! They can also handle checks from other countries.
Our partner can handle both checks made out in the name of a natural person and those made out in the name of a company. If you have a check in your personal name, you will have to submit:
- a legible copy of the check
- your valid ID
- a proof of your address.
If it is a check written in the name of a legal entity, more documents are required. The documents will be similar to those required for opening an offshore bank account. It does not matter if the company is registered in an offshore jurisdiction or not. It can be registered in any country that is not subject to US Treasury sanctions.
Our partner complies with all the international regulations related to anti-money laundering efforts. For this reason, you will also have to complete a short AML and KYC form that we will supply to you. Finally, you will have to fill out a Customer Account form that will carry the bank account number to which the money is to be transferred. (In rare cases, some additional documents may be required.) Please bear in mind that the expression ‘to cash a check’ loses its literal meaning in case you apply for our partner’s services: they are not going to send banknotes to you but rather transfer the money to your bank account outside the United States. They can however send you cryptocurrency if you prefer.
Please rest assured that all the personal and corporate information that you provide to our partner will be secure. It can be disclosed to a third party such as a government agency, for example, only based on a court order.
There is a fee to pay when using the US dollar check cashing service. However, if one option is pay the fee and have the remaining sum of money while the other is pay no fee and have no money either, the choice looks clear, we believe!
Should you think that you are unfortunate if you have been paid by a US dollar check and now you have to pay a commission in order to cash it? Not necessarily. Checks are something valuable for international payments, because once issued or accepted, they cannot be blocked. Therefore, whereas a bank transfer can be delayed by the bank Compliance Department, a check payment cannot.
US checks are cleared online (the physical check is not required). The check usually clears within 24 hour seven though you may have to wait for some time for the money to arrive in your bank account. Are you holding a check in your hand not knowing how to cash it? Write to us to [email protected] or contact us via WhatsApp or the live chat and we will put you through to our partner company. If you feel uneasy about having to pay the commission, just remember the old saying: better a bird in the hand than two in the bush.