Ways to fast and conveniently cash a check

While in most European countries cheques (checks in US) have been in decline and are now very rarely used such countries as United Kingdom, Ireland, France, United States and Canada are still relying on these financial instruments. As long as cheque clearance currently takes approximately 4-5 working days, sometimes longer at some banks, people are searching other options to cash their checks faster so as to get a quick cash advance right now. Our journal decided to talk about check cashing services, about their benefits and disadvantages.

Advantages

• Short term expenses. There are many situations when we need cash in a short time so as, for instance, to pay rents, mortgage payments and etc. 4-5 days of waiting would mean that we are likely to miss or be late on our payments. In such cases quick cash advance can be an optimum solution to settle our essential household bills.

• Problems with bank account. In those cases when a person holding a check has no bank account it means that he/she will have no opportunity to find a place where to pay their check. It isn't possible to pay a cheque into an account in a different name due to the risk of cheque fraud. Many consumers have no alternative but to turn to a cheque cashing service for a quick cash advance.

• Convenience. Instead of waiting for 4-5 working days, it is possible to get a quick cash advance within 10-15 minutes from a pawnbrokers.

• Opening hours. The majority of cheque cashing services are open to the public on Saturday and Sunday. Contrast this with banks that don't consider these working days for the purpose of cheque clearance.

• Other services. Other sources of quick cash advances are available, such as Payday loans.

Disadvantages

• High commissions. As any other business cheque cashing services are not free. The cost of getting instant cheque clearance is normally about 10%. For example, cashing a 1500 US dollar (USD) check might incur a 3-5% fee. That is 45 USD in fees at the lowest percentage. Even a 1% fee would be 15 USD. Conversely, most banks that charge a monthly service fee charge about 10-15 USD per month. Advances on paychecks may incur even higher fees, and may result in significant money loss. On the other hand, many observe hours other than those observed by banks, and it might be worth the fee to have immediate access to funds. In this case, the check cashing service does provide assistance, and might occasionally be used without great loss of income.

• Less money. After meeting the charges imposed by a pawnbroker, there is less money available to cover other money issues. Quick cash advances can become habit-forming.

• Identification. In order to avoid awaiting for cheque clearance, all cheque cashing services will require a bare minimum of two forms of identification. There must be at least one form of proof of address and one form of signature proof. However, a number of consumers with no bank account also lack suitable identification.

• Over-spending. A quick cash advance from a cheque cashing service regularly leads to over-spending. Holding a large amount of cash can be too much of a temptation.

• Losing money. Consumers that use a quick cash advance to pay their household bills may lose money during the payment process. A lost cheque can be cancelled, but money is lost for good.

How it works

If after having considered all these factors and weighed all pros and cons you are still determined to use check cashing services you should know these simple truths.

• Name of the cheque. All third party cheques must be made out to the person requiring the advance.

• Age requirements. The cheque cashing service is available to over 18s, although Cash Converters will sometimes accept third party cheques from 16-18 year olds.

• Identification. As it was already mentioned above in order to prevent cheque fraud, three sources of identification are generally required. This includes one source of address proof, such as a bank statement or utility bill and one source of signature proof, such as a passport or driving license. Some cheque cashing services, such as Cash Converters, require a passport photo for their records and to minimize paperwork should the service be required again in the future.

• Cash advance. While all cheque cashing services charge a fee, but most will provide a cash advance of 90% of the cheques value on the day.

Different services have different standards and rules when it comes to what type of checks they accept. Still you can find services that accept all types of thinkable checks. These are main categories:

• Personal checks
• Payroll checks
• Government checks
• Insurance checks
• Tax Refund checks
• Settlement checks
• Social Security checks

Market players

Browsing through the net we ran across these check cashing services that can help you when you need quick cash advance to settle your short time payment or for other needs.

Check$mart in the USA. Checksmart currently has stores in Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, and Utah. Checksmart was the winner of such awards as Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year, Columbus Consumer's Choice Award for Business Excellence and FISCA Activa Award.

Checksmart offers these services:

• Deferred Deposits
• Check Cashing
• Western Union Services
• Money Transfer
• Money Orders
• Bill Payment Services
• NetSpend Prepaid All-Access Visa

Money Mart in Canada. Money Mart began as an entrepreneurial venture in 1982 in Edmonton, Alberta. At the time, the company's founders had recognized a growing trend towards convenience and service in the financial services industry. To fully accommodate this trend, branches were opened outside of regular business hours and situated in easily accessible locations.

By 2000, Money Mart exceeded the 200-outlet mark. Today, it has over 350 branches across Canada. The company head office is located in Victoria, British Columbia, and is responsible for all North American operations.

Money Mart provides these services:

• Cheque Cashing
• Payday Loans
• Western Union Money Transfer®
• easytax^TM
• Currency Exchange
• Bill Payments
• Titanium Plus Prepaid MasterCard®

Money Mart cashes all kinds of cheques** including US and small business cheques. With no "holds" placed on cheques, customers receive cash for their cheque instantly. It charges a 3.00% fee plus $2.99 item fee for cashing your check.

Conclusion

As you can see there is a number of significant valuable features with check cashing services but is some cases these benefits are outbalanced by disadvantages. As in many other cases it means that all depends on the situation and your needs. If the time is more precious and afterwards you are to have more than you spend check cashing service may turn out to be a valuable and indispensable medium. But if you are trying to save more, especially in these tough economic times, you would better to consider other ways or just wait until the usual financial institutions process your cheque.