{"id":1488,"date":"2021-02-16T11:53:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T10:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/?p=1488"},"modified":"2026-08-06T22:41:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T20:41:05","slug":"us-and-other-cheques","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/","title":{"rendered":"US (and other) cheques"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-intro-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>During the COVID-19 crisis, some Americans living abroad receive relief payments by cheque from the US government. Consumers can no longer cash cheques in the Netherlands, however.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1493\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Hand of person in blue shirt operates tablet above financial documents on desk with glass of water.\" style=\"object-fit:cover;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1.jpg 1493w, https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1-300x80.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1-1024x274.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1-768x206.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1493px) 100vw, 1493px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cheques have largely been phased out in the Netherlands and many other EU countries because they are very expensive to process and susceptible to fraud. Retail banking customers in particular can no longer cash cheques in the Netherlands. Some banks outside the Netherlands still offer this service, but only if the recipient of the cheque is already a customer of that bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Transferring an amount to an IBAN is much easier, cheaper and safer, including for large companies and institutions outside Europe. IBAN stands for&nbsp;<em>International Bank Account Number<\/em>&nbsp;and is an ISO global standard for bank account numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-no-transfer-to-a-foreign-bank-account\">No transfer to a foreign bank account<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It appears that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the US tax authority that issues COVID-19 relief cheques, cannot transfer these payments to a foreign bank account or IBAN. The IRS can transfer the relief payment to a US bank account, so Americans without a US bank account receive a cheque instead. US banks that regularly transfer money abroad can handle the IBAN of a foreign bank account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/coronavirus\/coronavirus-and-economic-impact-payments-resources-and-guidance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The IRS explains on its website<span class=\"sr-only\">(opens in new window)<\/span> <span class=\"icon inline-block ml-1 w-[0.875em]\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" fill=\"#000000\" viewBox=\"0 0 256 256\"><path d=\"M228,104a12,12,0,0,1-24,0V69l-59.51,59.51a12,12,0,0,1-17-17L187,52H152a12,12,0,0,1,0-24h64a12,12,0,0,1,12,12Zm-44,24a12,12,0,0,0-12,12v64H52V84h64a12,12,0,0,0,0-24H48A20,20,0,0,0,28,80V208a20,20,0,0,0,20,20H176a20,20,0,0,0,20-20V140A12,12,0,0,0,184,128Z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a>&nbsp;that the recipient can return the COVID-19 relief cheque. The amount may then be credited against a future tax assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/americansoverseas.org\/en\/cares-act-information\/#paper-cheque\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>Americans Overseas<\/em> website<span class=\"sr-only\">(opens in new window)<\/span> <span class=\"icon inline-block ml-1 w-[0.875em]\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"32\" height=\"32\" fill=\"#000000\" viewBox=\"0 0 256 256\"><path d=\"M228,104a12,12,0,0,1-24,0V69l-59.51,59.51a12,12,0,0,1-17-17L187,52H152a12,12,0,0,1,0-24h64a12,12,0,0,1,12,12Zm-44,24a12,12,0,0,0-12,12v64H52V84h64a12,12,0,0,0,0-24H48A20,20,0,0,0,28,80V208a20,20,0,0,0,20,20H176a20,20,0,0,0,20-20V140A12,12,0,0,0,184,128Z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a>&nbsp;states that US cheques may be cashed at the&nbsp;<em>State Department Federal Credit Union<\/em>&nbsp;(SDFCU). Americans living abroad may be able to open an account there free of charge and cash US cheques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Dutch Payments Association provides this information without obligation and does not guarantee that it is complete or accurate.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some Americans living abroad receive US COVID-19 relief payments by cheque, but consumers can no longer cash cheques in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1489,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"btv_subject_tax":[30,29],"class_list":["post-1488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","btv_subject_tax-account-to-account-payments","btv_subject_tax-market-infrastructure"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin  - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US (and other) cheques - Dutch Payments Association<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Nederland en in veel andere EU-landen zijn cheques grotendeels afgeschaft, omdat ze erg duur en fraudegevoelig zijn.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US (and other) cheques\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Nederland en in veel andere EU-landen zijn cheques grotendeels afgeschaft, omdat ze erg duur en fraudegevoelig zijn.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dutch Payments Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-16T10:53:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-06T20:41:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1493\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NLbetalen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NLbetalen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/us-and-other-cheques\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/us-and-other-cheques\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"US (and other) cheques\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-16T10:53:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-06T20:41:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/us-and-other-cheques\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":293,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/us-and-other-cheques\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/us-and-other-cheques\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/us-and-other-cheques\\\/\",\"name\":\"US (and other) cheques - Dutch Payments Association\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/us-and-other-cheques\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/us-and-other-cheques\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-16T10:53:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-06T20:41:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"description\":\"In Nederland en in veel andere EU-landen zijn cheques grotendeels afgeschaft, omdat ze erg duur en fraudegevoelig zijn.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/us-and-other-cheques\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/us-and-other-cheques\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/us-and-other-cheques\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2025\\\/09\\\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1.jpg\",\"width\":1493,\"height\":400,\"caption\":\"Hand of person in blue shirt operates tablet above financial documents on desk with glass of water.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/us-and-other-cheques\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US (and other) cheques\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dutch Payments Association\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/news\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US (and other) cheques - Dutch Payments Association","description":"In Nederland en in veel andere EU-landen zijn cheques grotendeels afgeschaft, omdat ze erg duur en fraudegevoelig zijn.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US (and other) cheques","og_description":"In Nederland en in veel andere EU-landen zijn cheques grotendeels afgeschaft, omdat ze erg duur en fraudegevoelig zijn.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/","og_site_name":"Dutch Payments Association","article_published_time":"2021-02-16T10:53:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-06T20:41:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1493,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@NLbetalen","twitter_site":"@NLbetalen","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"US (and other) cheques","datePublished":"2021-02-16T10:53:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-06T20:41:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/"},"wordCount":293,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/","url":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/","name":"US (and other) cheques - Dutch Payments Association","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-16T10:53:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-06T20:41:05+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"description":"In Nederland en in veel andere EU-landen zijn cheques grotendeels afgeschaft, omdat ze erg duur en fraudegevoelig zijn.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/09\/BVNL-FOTO-31-giraal-betalingsverkeercrop-1493x400-1.jpg","width":1493,"height":400,"caption":"Hand of person in blue shirt operates tablet above financial documents on desk with glass of water."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/us-and-other-cheques\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US (and other) cheques"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/","name":"Dutch Payments Association","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/news\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1488"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5588,"href":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1488\/revisions\/5588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1488"},{"taxonomy":"btv_subject_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/btv_subject_tax?post=1488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}