How to Accept Foreign Checks and Reduce Risks

Check issuers often don’t differentiate whether the checks they are issuing are being sent domestically or internationally. In today’s digital age, it surprises many financial institutions how many checks are still being issued. Although most believe that checks will eventually be retired and become a fairly insignificant payment method, they are still being used today and must be dealt with. Financial institutions have an efficient process for checks issued domestically; the question is, how do we handle the international ones?

Checks issued from another country pose a significant service challenge. The credit union must ask the following questions to determine whether or not providing this service makes good business sense: