A couple of days ago I deposited a cheque in my First Direct account via an HSBC branch. The branch told me that the cheque would clear in 4 days, however when I called FD this morning to confirm that the cheque had been credited to my account. I was told that FD never guarantees any cheque paid over a counter unless a premium service is used. And that the funds *could* be taken from my account at anytime! Is this correct? How do I know that a cheque has actually cleared? Would it have helped if I were to have the cheque cheque guarantee card number written on the back?