Depositing foreign cheques
To deposit a foreign cheque or bank draft into your account, you’ll need to take it into your local Kiwibank.
If the funds are under NZ$25,000 they will usually be available for use, but not cleared:
- after 20 business days for an Australian dollar cheque or draft
- after 30 business days for a cheque or draft from anywhere else.
The time delay is because we have to send cheques and drafts to the country they came from before they can be cleared.
If the cheque or draft amount exceeds NZ$25,000, it might take longer for your funds to be available, as the cheque must first be cleared by the bank that issued it.
Cheques or drafts valued at less than $25,000 might also be sent to the overseas bank if we believe there’s a higher chance it may dishonour. This reduces your risk of loss if it does eventually dishonour.
If you have any questions, please call us on 0800 222 490.
More information on foreign currency cheque dishonours
A cheque may dishonour for different reasons, e.g. if the sender stops it or doesn’t have enough money. It might also dishonour if it’s stolen or used fraudulently.
If the cheque sent to you dishonours, we’ll debit your account with the amount of the cheque, valued at the foreign exchange rate on that day, plus any fees charged by the foreign bank. The minimum foreign bank fee is NZ$60 and increases with the value of the draft/cheque/travellers cheque.
Foreign cheques can also dishonour after the funds have been cleared for you to use. You should be wary about accepting foreign cheques from people you don’t know, especially if the cheque is payment for purchases over the internet.