Cheapest way to bank $660 USD Cheque

I wouldnt worry about it, different exchange rates between them will make the 10 or so irrelevant.

And a tenner for ?400 quid doesnt seem too bad to me.

Lloyds £8 Nationwide £6.50

Barclays is supposed to be free.

fee is tax deductable expense too...

Oh and the tax man will want to know about it :)

Abbey National 10 Nationwide free (so they told me)

It takes a month or two to clear and there is a form to fill in. This form must accompany the cheque (for Abbey National at least) otherwise they get very confused.

I just cashed a substantial USD cheque into my Barclays account. It was 'free' but I am under no illusion that I didnt pay for it through a different way, such as via their exchange rate. The good point was that it took less than a week to come through (of course, in theory it could be reversed some time later, as did happen to me once about 6 weeks after the original payment)

I continuously had this problem a few years ago and was tired of paying the charges so I got a Citi account in US $ (based in Hammersmith). Money is cashed quickly and you can pay US $ online but there are several downsides to it.

You need to have the equivalent of £2,000 in the account otherwise they charge you £20 a month, there is no interest, and cashing cheques can only be done through the approx. 3 branches in the UK (none in Manchester) or posting to the Hammersmith branch.

If you are dealing with a reasonable volume of cheques, payments etc. it is quite a good option and they will also set you up with a Sterling / Euro account so the £2,000 applies jointly across all accounts. You can transfer the money between the accounts instantly as well which I have found useful.