Sir, - Some weeks ago I had occasion to send a Eurocheque to a friend in Italy as a deposit on a holiday booking. The amount was duly charged to my account, quoting an exchange rate of 2458.5557 Lire to the Irish pound and adding what was described as a "non-bank fee" of £10. When I questioned this unauthorised payment, I failed to get any kind of satisfactory explanation. The bank's spokesperson was quite adamant that there was nothing he could do about it and I have no reason to believe otherwise.
Could anybody give me an explanation as to what authority enables my bank to add £10 to the amount stipulated on the cheque, in favour presumably of a foreign bank? Is this now an accepted practice for the encashment of Eurocheques? - Yours, etc., Bearnard O Lubhaing,
Mill Road, Killarney, Co Kerry.