Comprehension questions

1. What is a traveller’s cheque?

2. What kind of denominations do traveller’s cheques come in?
What do they bear on the front?

3. How are traveller’s cheques used for payments?

4. What will commissions be charged on if you decide to use
traveller’s cheques?

5. In what way are traveller’s cheques convenient to use?

6. What is the advantage of no expiry date on traveller’s cheques?

7. Why are traveller’s cheques very safe to carry? What measures
are taken to protect them from forgery?

8. What will the buyer of traveller’s cheques be recommended
to do and why?

PERSONAL CHEQUES

A cheque is a note to the bank where the customer has his or her account asking the bank to pay money from his or her account to the account of the company or the person whose name will be written by the customer on the сheque.

To write out a cheque the customer must put down the name of the payee, the amount in figures and in words, the date. When the customer signs the cheque, it means he authorizes the bank to pay the specified amount. Generally the cheque is signed in the presence of the payee or the company staff member.

A signed personal cheque is valid for 6 months from the date of issue.

If a mistake was made in the cheque or it was totally spoilt, the holder must cancel it.

Unsigned blank cheques appear in a special booklet called
a cheque book. It consists of 100 or 200 cheques.

The holder will be asked to produce a cheque card or a cheque guarantee card together with his cheque. It is a plastic card from the bank which quarantees the payment of the cheque up to
a certain amount. Both the cheques in the cheque book and the cheque card must have the same code number. The card has an expiry date.

When the company staff member receives a cheque, he must put the cheque card number on the back of the cheque. To avoid forgery it is also recommended to hold the cheque up to light and examine it as well as to compare the signatures.

The personal cheque will be cleared and the payment will be received only in case the customer has enough money in his or her bank account. Otherwise the cheque will be returned unpaid. In effect it means that the goods or services were purchased by the buyer at the cost of the seller.

Travellers must be aware of the fact that not all tourist companies, hotels and restaurants accept personal cheques. The main reason is that cheque clearance takes time - 8 calendar days and more.

Personal cheques are used as a method of payment or cashed in local currency.