How are people supposed to cash money orders?May 19 '03 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line My epic true story on trying to deposit a money order, and my resulting thoughts.
I was expecting a money order in today’s mail, and it arrived as scheduled. The money order amount was CAD$335 (three-hundred and thirty-five Canadian dollars), which is roughly USD$250 (two-hundred and fifty United States dollars). I proceeded to go to my local bank to deposit it. I arrived at my bank and saw my banker there. I said “hi” and showed her my money order and deposit slip. She looked at my money order and seemed to have some hesitation. She went over to the bank manager and briefly spoke with her. I was then told that the bank doesn’t generally process foreign denomination money orders – or perhaps international money orders at all, for that matter? My banker did pursue it further, though, by telephoning someone higher up in the bank. A few minutes later, the final answer was that I could deposit the money order, but that it would have to be sent up to Canada for processing. It would take around two or three weeks to process, and I would have to pay a USD$15 fee. I appreciated the fact that my bank was willing to actually process it, but I didn’t want to pay a $15 fee (approximately 6% of the money order value). It just feels stupid to pay $15 to deposit a money order. After I politely said “no”, my banker graciously called other banks in the area. The final word seemed to be: one other bank would process it fee-free (the others apparently wouldn’t process it at all), but only if I had an American Express card (to guaranty it? I don’t know…). I’m not an AMEX cardholder, so I had to pass on that one. I left the bank discouraged. I’ve been researching other options this evening. I can’t find any on-line services that’ll process international money orders. I do, however, know a banker in Minneapolis, and I’ll call her tomorrow to see if her bank can process it. But if that isn’t possible, I might be forced to pay the $15 fee at my bank to process it. I have to wonder why banks will not process international money orders. From what I can see, most banks won’t even process them for account holders, let alone non-account holders. From my viewpoint, a money order is a money order. I view it as safer than a personal check, company check, payroll check, or cashiers check. Isn’t it supposed to be treated somewhat similar to cash? So, why am I writing this? First, as I said above, I’m outraged by the fact that banks won’t process international money orders. Second, this isn’t my first issue with cashing a money order. A few weeks ago, I took a $400 postal money order to a post office. The clerks there refused to cash it, citing the fact that they had already removed most of the money from their tills (despite the fact that the post office wouldn’t close for another hour). I ended up having to go across town to another post office. How are people supposed to cash money orders? Am I wrong in my viewpoint, or is it crazy that banks won’t cash (let alone accept deposits of) international money orders? People buy money orders (and pay a fee at purchase time!) for their supposed versatility, but I’m not seeing this versatility through banks’ policies. Why do people tolerate this? Why do people still buy money orders? Is it actually the best option available? That's a scary thought...  |
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