Bank asked what the cheque was for

So I went to cash a cheque, which I've done before, no problems. Today, apparently because it was an international cheque (USD, I'm in Canada), they said that they could not cash it, and it would be held for about 15 business days. The company was Bestmark, for an oil change shop. And the teller kept asking the type of work I do for them, what kind of company they are, etc. I'm fine with the questions that ask if you've received payment from them before, and if you were expecting the payment.

Anybody else have problems with the bank questioning your work or where your cheques come from?

The stupid part is that electronic deposits SHOULD be feasible with international cheques. Just add a field where you can select the appropriate currency from a drop-down list. I get USD cheques most often and they are the hardest to cash/deposit.

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I have a separate checking account for my Mystery Shopping payments and expenses, at a bank that I actually do shopping for. One time I had to dispute a transaction where they withdrew a fee for checking when they shouldn't have, because I have Direct Deposit set up with it. The banker kept asking me who the deposits were from and what they were for, and I just said, "They're payments from companies that I do contracting work for." I think he was wanting to make sure that I wasn't just paying myself from PayPal or another checking account in order to get around the fees, but I try to cover my tracks. The company called "Mystery-Shoppers" even has that written right on their checks, so I have to deposit them at an ATM only...

"The future ain't what it used to be." --Yogi Berra

Remote deposit. I used to get the occasional question about a check being deposited or get strange looks in the drive through. I started making deposits at the bank's ATM. Now I just send them a photo of the front and back of the check with a tablet of phone and file the deposited check with other shop paperwork.

Even if you make a deposit at an ATM, there is a human being somewhere who either looks at the physical check or (more likely these days) at an image of the check. It may be cursory, but they do look. They do that to avoid fraud. I was pleasantly surprised about 6 months ago when I got an email telling me that one of the checks I deposited at an ATM had been read incorrectly and that they had deposited another $10 to my account. I admit that I should have added up the deposits more carefully, but my mistake resulted in me learning something.

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

My guess is that the only reason they looked, myst4au, was because the batch didn't balance. As long as the batch balances I suspect the checks get no more than the most cursory of glances. Of course a USD denominated check in Canada is more likely to get scrutiny (as would a check for Euros or CAD deposited to a US account).

In your shoes I would've told them I do adult oriented phone calls, or semen donation. Anything that made them wish they didn't ask. Lol

I used to mail in my checks but got annoyed at paying the postage. I drive by my credit union often so it isn't a big deal to stop in and deposit the checks. However, I have noticed some looks from the teller after they read the company names on the checks and have had a few questions about them. I think they suspect they are scam checks. I just say I know the companies, do business with them and have deposited their checks before.

I think I might start mailing in the cheques to my no-fee bank.

The worst part is that I have to talk to a teller, I have no way to submit electronically, ATM or remotely. There has been a few times where the cheque would have cleared in the time it took me getting into the bank.

I partly do understand their hesitancy because of the influx of scams. But that doesn't mean that they can ask what the company is or the work I do for them.

I was talking with my mom about this, and I wish I had said that I don't ask intrusive questions about the teller. I have a personal account; what my work entails is none of their business.

I think you are overthinking this a bit. I've deposited checks from MSCs in my bank and some tellers ask, some don't. I think it depends on the teller and is just their attempt to make conversation. The way I resolved the problem was to create a separate account with "My Name, Freelance Account." That let's me deposit my mystery shopping checks into a "business" account and explains checks from all over the country. At the same time, I do think it's rather funny that certain MSCs have "MYSTERY SHOPPING ACCOUNT" in all caps and bold print on the front of their checks when, at the same time, they urge us to retain our anonymity.

"To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful." Edward R. Murrow

Thou shalt not steal. I mean defensively. On offense, indeed thou shall steal and thou must.--Branch Rickey

I know that years ago many eBay users, out of Canada, had set up USD accounts (US routing number included). Online platforms like PayPal have greatly reduced the need to write checks any more though. As a seller I received those checks often. I would wait until my bank cleared the funds, took as long as an out of state check.

I agree though the fraud issue we keep seeing related to our business may be the reason for what's happening here.

My posts are solely based on my opinions and for my entertainment, contact a professional if you need real advice.

When you get in debt you become a slave. - Andrew Jackson

I'm in Canada too and have found a solution to this problem. Go to the bank and open a no-fee US account linked to your CDN account. Mine is with RBC and is completely free. I still have to deposit with a teller but I've never been asked any questions about the provenance of the cheque. I deposit to my US account, judge when the dollar is most advantageous, then transfer the balance to CDN $ into my CDN account.

To those saying take a picture - we still can't do that with US cheques in Canada, only with CDN cheques. US cheques need to be deposited in person. We can't even put them through the ATM.

Mtl Shopper, thank you. Yes, I do have a US account with the bank where the transaction was. The problem was that I wanted to cash the cheque (which I have been able to do before) and the teller was pushing to know why I was getting this payment.

I have put my US cheques in the ATM; then I get a notice in the mail a few days later that the deposit was cancelled then redeposited with the exchange rate. Generally I take the m to the teller though.

I haven't been asked about the type of work I do or where the cheques come from, but I won't object to being asked. Banks are criticized if they don't help to prevent fraud or money laundering.

The last two properties I bought, I had to answer questions about where the money came from that I was buying the property with.

I'm also Canadian receiving periodic USD cheques for my shops. I just cash them and hold the USD as cash for when I travel south of the border. I used to have a USD account, but the bank imposed new monthly charges unless a minimum balance was maintained in the account (more than I need to have available in USD), so I just closed it and keep the cash at home these days. I've had tellers ask me questions, but mainly just making sure the cheque is in payment for work I've done and that I've received payment from the companies previously. Due diligence against fraud, I expect.

I used to be one of those people at the banks who reviews checks and for the bank i worked for we only reviewed checks through atms if they were over $1000.00 unless the atm rejected the check for some reason like the computer suspected it was fraudulent. So for most ms checks you should be fine putting it through atm.

Yes, checks are more scrutinized since they are being stolen and "washed" by thieves who use certain fluids to remove the ink and forge their own info before cashing them. Some temp workers at the Post Office were identified as possible suspects as per law enforcement, also, checks have been fished out of mail boxes via string with mouse trap glue on the end, or whatever....don't mail checks from isolated mail boxes if at all possible. Pain in the a--, but why take a
chance...

Any time I mail anything, I try to drop it at the post office. Not had a problem yet. I have had lottery tickets being mailed to me from the MSC that never arrived. That mail was worth about $280. Thankfully the scheduler believed me and arranged for me to pick up at the client's office in my city.

I will try the ATM with the next check that I can wait for. As in, not the nearly $300 one that was mailed out 3/31 that hasn't arrived yet.

If a teller at a bank started questioning who my checks are from and what kind of work I do, I probably would ask him/her why he/she is asking. Then my answer would be I do consulting for the hospitality industry. Period the end Any more questions and I would be in the manager's office, asking why!

That happened to me. They saw the word "Mystery" in the company name and was curious whom it was from. Most banks will hold USD cheques as others of mentioned due to Fraud. You might have better luck at TD Canada Trust as they have US locations but who knows?

I use my bank's app and deposit my checks with my IPad. Saves me a trip to the bank and no one can question me.

@Canada_Shopper This was a TD Canada Trust branch!

@kenasch I would love to but the Tangerine app won't let me submit a cheque from the US. I've tried to find a bank that will let me, but to no avail.

@Kakita987 wrote:

@Canada_Shopper This was a TD Canada Trust branch!

@kenasch I would love to but the Tangerine app won't let me submit a cheque from the US. I've tried to find a bank that will let me, but to no avail.

I use Chase if that helps.

I always deposit my US$ check at RBC ATM in my Can$ account as I had cancelled my US$ account. It is always accepted as CAN$, then the value of the exchange added within a day. I could cash it outright, minus the exchange value. If I wanted to cash the US$ check, I could do that with the teller and they would give me the value in CAN$ or US$. I have never had any need to go to the teller. ATM is fine with me and I trust my bank.

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