Last month, my sister in London sent me a sterling cheque from her HSBC account in London. I asked the teller at HSBC Central branch to deposit the cheque into my Powervantage sterling savings account.
The teller said that while the charges for depositing foreign currency cheques were ordinarily $150, on this occasion the charge would be $50 as the foreign currency cheque had been issued from an HSBC account.
I reiterated that I did not need the cheque to be converted to Hong Kong dollars, but simply deposited in sterling into my sterling savings account.
The teller assured me that she was aware of that, and that the $50 was the charge for this 'service'. When I inquired as to what the costs the charge covered, she informed me that it was postage. I explained that this left $46.90 unaccounted for, so she left the counter in search of her manager.
Not having managed to rouse the manager in the five minutes she was away, she asked me to wait for him. I refused and left the bank with my cheque.
If there is a genuine and valid reason for charging customers up to $150 to deposit foreign currency cheques into their account in the same currency, HSBC should consider informing its tellers so that they can explain the fees.