I’m thinking of ordering something from Italy and they specify that payment must be by international check, which I must admit is a new one on me.
Is it just another word for traverlers check?
Is it something that would be a big hassle for me to aquire?
Any info is appreciated and won’t be used against you in a court of law.
In general a bank in Italy doesn’t want a cheque drawn on a bank in (say) Little Rock, Arkansas, becase the two banks will not be members of the same clearing system and collecting the cheque will be slow and labour-intensive. Hence they will make their own customer a fat charge for depositing this cheque to his account. Hence he doesn’t want to be paid by this cheque.
There are various international clearing systems, but most US banks don’t participate in them, at least as far as retail customers are concerned.
What you need is what I would call an international draft (US-speak may have a different phrase for it). Go to your local branch and tell them you want a draft for 500 euros (or whatever the purchase price is). They’ll charge you the dollar cost based on their current exchange rate, plus a commission, plus a charge of a few dollars for issuing the draft, which will be a cheque for 500 euros drawn by [your bank] on [some bank in Europe]. Any bank branch in Europe will provide an international draft over the counter, so I guess it’s the same in the US. If I’m wrong about this, your local branch will probably direct to to some large downtown branch (or will do it for you, but will need prior notice).
As there is usually a fixed charge for the draft and (sometimes) a fixed charge for the currency exchange, these charges can mount up relative to the sum you actually need to pay, if that sum is small.
Note that what your getting is a cheque drawn by Bank A on Bank B, not a cheque drawn by you, so you won’t be able to stop the cheque if you change your mind about the transaction or are dissatisified or whatever.