NZ Banks no longer accepting cheques

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › NZ Banks no longer accepting cheques

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#2700140 30-Apr-2021 15:44

kingdragonfly:
tieke:As also mentioned, Transferwise/Wise is also an option: it's like other foreign currency debit cards that people take on holiday, in that after you transfer money to your Wise account and you can then put it into different currency "bins" (ie GBP, USD, AUD etc) while paying the appropriate conversion fee.

Unless I'm mistaken, Transferwise/Wise can only be used for electronic transfers.

The idea is instead of depositing cheques into your NZD account, you just give a US account number which organisations like Amazon, IRS, etc can send electronic payments to.

kingdragonfly

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#2700178 30-Apr-2021 16:10

The IRS is notoriously unforgiving.

I moved after submitting 2019 tax return. I spent weeks trying to talk to a human being at the IRS to give them my correct address.

Call after call involved going through a complex voicemail system. After 15 minutes on hold, you were rewarded with a terse. "All lines are busy. Try again later. Click" (Yes email won't work)

Even though I literally had the tax forms trying to convince them I was the actual person took a very long 30 minute conversation, and they only reluctantly agreed I was probably legitimate.

Even after all that they sent my check to the old address.

And guess 15 months later, even though I filed a new year, 2020, tax returns using my current address, they still sent it to my old address.

I was talking to someone who starting renouncing their US citizenship 15 months ago. This week they got a letters from the IRS saying they need more information. They can't renounce their citizenship till the IRS agrees they are free and clear.

There's a webpage where you can check your refund. I've tried it at least 20 times. It always says "Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again later."

You get less than one chance to get everything right with the IRS. Unless I see a web page from the IRS saying Transferwise / Wise accepted, I'd be very hesitant to try.

Trust me: if you've never dealt with the US government you won't believe how difficult everything is.

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#2700191 30-Apr-2021 17:20

kingdragonfly:

Trust me: if you've never dealt with the US government you won't believe how difficult everything is.

I have a lot of sympathy, I’ve had to deal with the buggers myself, when I lived in the US. Fortunately I had a Big 5 doing my taxes - local State, Federal, and every state I worked in (I was consulting all over). Incredibly complex ‘system’. I believe written and maintained in COBOL?

Since they can’t get your address right though, how do you think they’ll arrest you for non-filing?

shk292

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#2700223 30-Apr-2021 19:16

kingdragonfly:
You get less than one chance to get everything right with the IRS. Unless I see a web page from the IRS saying Transferwise / Wise accepted, I'd be very hesitant to try.

It seems highly unlikely that the IRS website would list every bank to which they can make payments. From what I can see, Wise gives you a standard US bank account number and routing number. You'd then use this to receive payments.

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#2700233 30-Apr-2021 19:44

kingdragonfly: <snip>

Even though I literally had the tax forms trying to convince them I was the actual person took a very long 30 minute conversation, and they only reluctantly agreed I was probably legitimate.

Even after all that they sent my check to the old address.

<snip>

If I was on the fence about this issue you would have actually persuaded me that electronic payments are the way to go. Would've avoided all that hassle.

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#2700345 1-May-2021 08:33

The IRS has done it again.

After months of trying to get through to them, their web page finally worked.

"We made changes to your tax return that changed the amount of your refund.

Our changes decreased the amount of your refund to $0.00. A notice that explains the changes to your tax return was mailed on April 5, 2021.

For more details about the changes we made to your tax return, please select the "Details" button.

If you have questions or need additional information, please have the following on hand when you call"

They have a "details" button. When you press it it says "The amount was computed incorrectly." and that's it.

When you call the number given, you're greeted with

"Welcome to the Internal Revenue Service International and US services certification services"

What? It then asks a number of voicemail prompts directed at certifications, and trying to get you to use their website, until you eventually get to a prompt that mentions refunds.

Then you get this friendly message:

Please hold while your call is transferred. We're sorry but due to extreme high call volumes in the topic you requested, we are unable to handle your call at this time. Please try again on the next business day. Click.

If you call the 800 number, you get a similar set of prompts, but instead of hanging up, it puts you on hold.

I guess they don't like international callers, even I'm the one paying for the call.

After a 20 minute hold, I talk to a person, and the first thing they say, reading from a script, is they can't give individualized help, do not have access to any tax returns, and can only give general non-specific information.

I talk to her, tell her a received the ""Our changes decreased the amount of your refund to $0.00 page.

She tells me I need to fill in a form I've never heard of and fax or mail it to them. (no web page equivalent). She recommend using the fax number.

So I'm going to waiting a while for a stimulus check.

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#2700353 1-May-2021 09:37

Im at a loss why people are now kicking up a stink... its been at least 10 years since banks started talking about phasing out cheques and probably about 15 years since the majority of people stopped using them too, (as firstly phone banking and internet banking and now mobile phone app banking actually took off).

If you think about it, at least 15-20 years ago, many many retailers stopped accepting cheques (unless prior arrangement was made). Obvious exception was the utility and/or council/govt related providers... they kept going just to make sure transition was easy.

Winding the clock back 2-3 years....this is when my bank started to tell me cheques will go..... Many businesses were also told.. start planning....

I got a few letters, I got a few emails from my banks and also pop up notifications in my app....

- In all those letters and emails, it asked me to ask them for help to help me stop using cheques (I dont use cheques)....they were making sure I could learn how to use phone banking, internet banking, app banking. Cool. I dont need help, but thanks anyway.

Ok, so the branches for banks are now few and far between, but thats also helped a lot of people transition to "the new way". As someone else mentioned earlier.... weve gone from swapping pigs and cows, to swapping metal and paper to now simply swapping bits n bytes.

I dont remember so much fuss when currency changed i.e. back in the late 80s when coins replaced certain notes, and the 5 cent coin dissapeared.

What irks me is that the older boomers are moaning when it was their generation who were likely at the cusp of introducing technological advances we have today....

They have seen so much change.... so why cant they cope with this small change?

Sure, people cant learn new tricks... my mother is one.... but im happy to do her banking once a month.... If she really wants somthing done, she can ring the bank and ask for help..... speaking of which... the bank offers this service if you outright simply cant use phone/internet/app banking. You just have to ask, but you have to have patience.

Now for those wanting to accept overseas cheques... wouldn't a local online account with HSBC be the answer?, that way said pusher of cheque could deposit money into said local account?

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#2700404 1-May-2021 10:40

Goosey:
Now for those wanting to accept overseas cheques... wouldn't a local online account with HSBC be the answer?, that way said pusher of cheque could deposit money into said local account?

I agree with 90% of what you say, but will point put that getting accounts created overseas in these days of anti money laundering rules it’s quite difficult to do so in some places. Hell, even here if you’ve been a customer for years creating a new joint account can require all parties having to go to a branch.

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kingdragonfly

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#2700423 1-May-2021 11:35

Goosey: Now for those wanting to accept overseas cheques... wouldn't a local online account with HSBC be the answer?, that way said pusher of cheque could deposit money into said local account?

If you read through the thread, you'd have known that some overseas agency will not deposit to a "foreign" account. For example the IRS specifically says they will not.

With their very strict anti-money laundering rules, it's debatable whether a virtual account would always work. Sire it'll work with Amazon, but we're talking about government agency with 1960's technology mindsets.

Countries like India and the US are still very much reliant on paper forms and faxes.

I am literally having to find a fax machine now, just to submit a form to the IRS. No web equivalent..

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#2700424 1-May-2021 11:36

2talk do email to fax… might be worth looking at them and just using their casual 028 plan.

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#2700485 1-May-2021 14:28

davidcole:
Goosey:
Now for those wanting to accept overseas cheques... wouldn't a local online account with HSBC be the answer?, that way said pusher of cheque could deposit money into said local account?

I agree with 90% of what you say, but will point put that getting accounts created overseas in these days of anti money laundering rules it’s quite difficult to do so in some places. Hell, even here if you’ve been a customer for years creating a new joint account can require all parties having to go to a branch.

HSBC do specifically offer the ability to create off shore accounts. They tend to be a bit picky on taking customers but their offshore banking is one reason a lot of expats choose them.

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#2700517 1-May-2021 17:37

Handle9:

HSBC do specifically offer the ability to create off shore accounts. They tend to be a bit picky on taking customers but their offshore banking is one reason a lot of expats choose them.

Picky? They only do that for Premier clients. Minimum of $150,000 savings, or $10,000 per month income deposited into the account.

shk292

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#2700526 1-May-2021 18:26

kingdragonfly:
Goosey: Now for those wanting to accept overseas cheques... wouldn't a local online account with HSBC be the answer?, that way said pusher of cheque could deposit money into said local account?

If you read through the thread, you'd have known that some overseas agency will not deposit to a "foreign" account. For example the IRS specifically says they will not.

With their very strict anti-money laundering rules, it's debatable whether a virtual account would always work. Sire it'll work with Amazon, but we're talking about government agency with 1960's technology mindsets.

Countries like India and the US are still very much reliant on paper forms and faxes.

I am literally having to find a fax machine now, just to submit a form to the IRS. No web equivalent..

Just interested to know why you're ignoring the suggestion to use Wise, which will give you a standard US account. It seems such an obvious answer to your problem

It's like you really really really want to get a paper cheque

Handle9

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#2700532 1-May-2021 19:15

Kyanar:
Handle9:

HSBC do specifically offer the ability to create off shore accounts. They tend to be a bit picky on taking customers but their offshore banking is one reason a lot of expats choose them.

Picky? They only do that for Premier clients. Minimum of $150,000 savings, or $10,000 per month income deposited into the account.

They can be more flexible than that but YMMV

kingdragonfly

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#2700550 1-May-2021 20:34

shk292: Just interested to know why you're ignoring the suggestion to use Wise, which will give you a standard US account. It seems such an obvious answer to your problem

It's like you really really really want to get a paper cheque

I hope it's slowly becoming apparent that I've had a lot of frustration with the IRS over the years.

Just like my notice saying my refund has been changed to $0 with circular logic: it changed because it was miscalculated. We won't tell you what was miscalculated because it changed.

Again the US treasury is not Amazon or Etsy. Once I sent in my taxes, it's nearly impossible to change anything, including the method of payment.

They suspect everyone is a crook and a money launderer. Any sort of thing out of the ordinary, like depositing to Wise, may trigger a personal nuclear winter.

And if I sounds scared of the IRS, well let me tell you, it by design of the IRS.

Honestly it's like a woman explaining the pain of child birth. Sure, men have had pain, but most haven't passed a bowling ball out of their rectums.

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