Travellers Cheques

[bionicbeacher]

Received a notice from our Bank....the Bank of Montreal that as of Feb 2, 2019 they will no longer accept, Any form of Travellers Cheques for any currency.  This may be old news but I thought that it was worthwhile passing along....For those still having a cache of travel checks tucked away for future use.....it appears in Canada that the major Banks have shut down or are in the process of shutting down the acceptance of Traveler’s Cheques.  Their suggestion was to go to a Currency Exchange....however, they are not near as plentiful as the Banks were and I am assuming that there will be a good sized fee involved to do so...

 

Anyone travelling to a Canadian Port or City should keep this in mind for future travel .....only in  Canada Eh!

 

Cheers

Ken

[LHT28]

most people  now a days just use a CC  or go to an ATM 

have not used Travellers cheques  since the 70's  😉

[cb at sea]

It seems as if checks, or even cash in some places is totally passe......I don't understand it, since credit and debit cards cost the merchant a BUNDLE to accept and process!

 

Just bring cash with you...large bills are easier to carry and the ship can break them down into smaller denominations for you.

[pacruise804]

14 hours ago, cb at sea said:

It seems as if checks, or even cash in some places is totally passe......I don't understand it, since credit and debit cards cost the merchant a BUNDLE to accept and process!

 

Just bring cash with you...large bills are easier to carry and the ship can break them down into smaller denominations for you.

 

I suspect for places that opt for credit only the merchant is willing to pay the processing costs to have less risk from theft or counterfeit bills.  

 

At least once we were unable to change bills at guest services since they were low on small bills.

[Tourist1292]

I had trouble in cashing traveller checks in HK a few years ago. It is not accepted at many places. Credit card is the way to go.

[Alrana Eris]

Travelers checks have been out of favor in retail for about 10 years now. Even writing a check can be passe. But my older customers still do use them. I have worked in retail customer service for 30 years. Most people use credit cards now. and now the apple or google pay.   The reason some stores just don't want to take personal checks or travelers checks, Some stores(mine does)use armored car services like Dunbar or Garda it could take about a week or more for a check to clear. Or they use a Square or pay pal credit card reader with an I pad or tablet.  I'm a cash gal personally but credit/debit cards is what retailers are accepting. FYI with a debit card never EVER use it for a hotel room use a regular credit card. They freeze your money and it takes about a week to get it back into your account. Travelers checks are extinct like the dinosaur.