From: Stormlx 
Newsgroups: uk.finance
Subject: Re: US dollar accounts
Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2005 19:43:45 +0000

On 3/3/05 5:53 pm, in article
51dba084.0503030953.297ba96e@posting.google.com, "Andy"
 wrote:

> I occasionally receive US dollar cheques due to a research scholarship
> I've got and I'm a little fed up with being stung by exorbitant bank
> charges. Does anybody know of any good US dollar accounts offered by
> UK banks?

Easy enough to get. Problem is that they don't clear checks (Amer. Spelling)
through the Federal Reserve System and checks don't clear at par. I'm not
sure how much cheaper the fees would be than what you pay now. (US banks in
London, which will clear US$ checks without additional fee, won't do
business with you.)

Two choices, really: (1) a savings account with a US bank, and a debit card
to withdraw the funds via a UK cash machine, or (2) a Canadian dollar
account (assuming you had business in Canada) because Canadian banks clear
US checks very cheaply.

The ideal option you have no access to: Visiting Forces' "Community Banks"
on RAF bases, which deal in both currencies at minimal commission.