Depositing international money orders.

Rumble

Rumble

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Hi all,

What is your experience with depositing international money orders? Service charges? Please share!

A recent knife purchase had me send a Canadian postal money order southbound to the US (in US funds). The seller sent an email stating that the bank charged him $10.00. Not sure if it was returned to him or deposited (waiting for an email clarification)...but, looks like there's a service charge. I thought that an international money order in US funds would be treated like a personal cheque, no?

Anyone got any pointers when depositing/cashing a money order from Canada? From any other country? All feedback would be greatly appreciated as it would make future knife buys/sells much easier for all of us.

:)
 
I think the fee charged will depend on the bank. Over the past four years I have sent a great many Postal money orders to the US and have never had anyone tell me that they were charged a fee for cashing them.

My bank charges me $7.50 for a money order in US funds. Canada Post's charge is $4.00. Postal money orders and wire transfers are the only way that I will send money.
 
I'm not sure if you can deposit a Postal Money Order into a bank account, there well may be some service charges for that.

He should have gone to the post office to cash it first, there is no charge for that.
 
Okay, update:

Seller's bank actually rejected the money order, so the funds were not deposited into the account, and he was charged $10.00. So, he's basically not paid up. Has anyone had this happen to them? If so, how did you resolve it?

I'm going to suggest that he try to cash it at the local PO, but I have two concerns:

1. The amount may be too high for the PO to cash; $300.00.
2. The check could be all messed up by bank stamps and such...rendering it invalid for the post office.

Any more experiences out there to share folks?
 
I don't understand the whole scenario. Why take a postal money order to a bank? Take it to a post office. If the bank doesn't accept them, why does it charge $10 to say so? The bank should just have handed it back to him and told him to take it to the post office.

Bureaucracies have their own logic. Illogic.

Have him take it to the post office. $300 should not be too much money. If the bank messed it up, deal with that when he gets to the post office, don't worry about it now. I doubt they messed it up. if they did, back to bank! and tell the branch manager, he is now responsible for defacing the money order.

(This could be fun, but will probably resolve quickly at the PO.)
 
The possible problem is that it was a Canadian postal money order instead of an International money order. Canadian orders, and for that fact American money orders are ONLY cashable in the originating country and are marked as such on the face of the money order. Cross border transactions require the international variety.
 
The money order that I sent has been the same kind for every MO transaction that I have ever dealt with. Our PO has no other kind...just a Canadian MO that states that it's good for US funds. This is the first time I've heard a bank reject an MO with US funds stated on it.

I'm suspecting that the bank simply overlooked the fact that it was a US funds MO, and only saw that it came from the Canadian post office.
 
That being the case, it should go back to the bank, for them to reverse the improper charge, and apologize to the customer for sending him running around in circles through their incompetenc.
 
I deposit batches of money orders, postal and otherwise, every week. I've never had a charge for it but it's a commercial account. Perhaps the rules are different by bank and by type of account.
 
Money order is a strange animal. The law, (USA) is somewhat unclear on what these things actually are. Who issued the "money order"? Some money orders are not actually negotiable instruments! As a practical matter this means that some money orders CAN be stopped and are not "cash equivilants".
Usually, Money orders are treated in a manner similar to personal checks. If a bank in the U.S.A. his dishonored it and marked it accordingly, it could still be possible to "cash" it or deposit it in another bank if it is legit, i.e. not been actually stolen, reported stolen and funds are available. Have customer ask why his bank dishonored it. Tell him that he may pusue a claim of "wrongful dishonor" against the bank! DO NOT send alternate payment until you have regained possession or proof of destruction of said "money order.
 
There are two kinds of Canada Post money orders. One that's only good in Canada and the other is an international money order. The international one is pink.

It is weird that the bank charged for a money order that they did not deposit.
 
I have done several knife transactions with Canadian Postal Money Orders. IF the Post Office doesn't have enough funds, they stamp the Postal Money Order and I take it to my bank and they cash the funds. Part of your seller's problem might have been his dealing with a bank other than one that works with the Post Office. I am fortunate that my business accounts are at the same branch that the Post Office uses.

The seller should get things straightened out with his bank since PMO's are such a clean way to do transactions between Canada and the US.
 
I once got a money order from a friend in Canada, and went to cash it at the local Union Planters Bank. No problem; I assumed, as nobody mentioned anything or charged me at the time. It wasnt until a few weeks later, that my Wife noticed a $5 charge on our statement. Never did get that back.
 
Don't belive everthing that the P.O. tells you.I was told that a USPS M.O. was good in Canada by the person at the P.O.,it wasn't and the guy had to send it back to me and I resent another international M.O.
I short US M.O.s are not good there and Canada M.O.s are not good here.
 
u812 said:
Don't belive everthing that the P.O. tells you.I was told that a USPS M.O. was good in Canada by the person at the P.O.,it wasn't and the guy had to send it back to me and I resent another international M.O.
I short US M.O.s are not good there and Canada M.O.s are not good here.
Click to expand...

There are two versions from either side of the border.

Here in Canada, we can purchase a MO in Canadian funds or US funds. Obviously, the Canadian funds will be invalid or at least difficult to cash in the US. So, Canadians should be purchasing US funds MO for a US purchase/seller. The MO is the same colour I think, but next to the denomination/dollar value, is a small little mark that would say "US" or "CDN", or something to that nature. That will differentiate between US or Canadian funds.

In the US, from my own experience, there exists a green MO for US funds and only good for the CONUS, and then there's the pink international MO in US funds. Canada can NOT cash a green US MO (at least not my PO or bank). However, the pink US MO is sweet; we like those and have NO problem cashing/depositing them. Basically, the bank treats it like a US cheque.

As well, it's just a good habit for any of us to ask about service charges on un-common transactions because every bank has different policies. Some will charge a handling/service fee. Some will not.

Cross border sales are usually not a problem if we just keep in mind what works and what doesn't. From all my dealings, US funds MO for either side of the border, coming or going, and that usually works out fine.

Someone, please correct me if I'm mistaken on any of the above points.
 
Rumble said:
There are two versions from either side of the border.
In the US, from my own experience, there exists a green MO for US funds and only good for the CONUS, and then there's the pink international MO in US funds. Canada can NOT cash a green US MO (at least not my PO or bank). However, the pink US MO is sweet; we like those and have NO problem cashing/depositing them. Basically, the bank treats it like a US cheque.
Click to expand...
That's the way it works here too, green USPS MO's are rejected but pink ones are gladly accepted.
 
Every time I get MO from Canada my (US) bank charges me 1.50 USD :(. Still better than incoming wire transfer fee which is 10.00 USD.

David
 
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