Drafts and cheques
When you need to make a paper based payment
When your trading partners can't accept an electronic payment, we can issue a foreign draft, or you can issue a currency cheque drawn on your currency current account.
Foreign drafts and foreign currency cheques are not as fast or secure as electronic payments and are designed for instances when electronic payments can't be made.
Foreign Drafts
A foreign draft is a cheque issued by NatWest that is drawn on an overseas bank and which is payable overseas.
Foreign drafts
Foreign currency cheques
If you have a foreign currency current account with a cheque book, you can use your cheques to make overseas payments.
Foreign currency cheques
If you need to send a sterling, euro or other currency payment overseas but can't use electronic payment methods, a foreign draft could be the solution.
Key benefits
- Choose how to deliver the payment- you can enclose your draft with documents or deliver in person
- Flexibility- provides a paper-based payment which could be more acceptable to your beneficiary
- Global use- can be sent virtually anywhere in the world served by a postal system
- Easy to cash locally- if the draft is drawn on a bank in, and in the currency of, the beneficiary's country
- Currency choice- drafts are available in a range of currencies and for any amount
- Easy to order- order the draft from your branch a few days in advance or electronically via Bankline
Costs
Drafts up to £100 cost £8. Drafts for more than £101 cost £18.
If your business has a foreign currency current account with a cheque book, you can use cheques to make payments in that currency.
These foreign currency cheques are payable in the United Kingdom. The recipient's bank may charge a fee to accept the cheque so this could make them unattractive for some recipients.
If you do send cheques abroad, you should remember that not all countries' banking systems and postal services are as reliable as the UK.
Key features & benefits
- Currency choice- foreign currency accounts are available in a number of major currencies
- Easy euro payments- you can use them to make euro payments within the UK
- Improved cash flow- since cheques generally take longer to clear on your account
- Always available- if you have a currency cheque account you can write cheques at any time
- No financial limits- you can write cheques for any amount
- Fast euro payments- cheques to UK beneficiaries can be cleared through the intra-UK euro clearing system in the same timescales as sterling cheques