Present your Cheques at Once.
A business man, in order to give himself every chance, will pay all cheques to the credit of his banking account upon the day he receives them from his customers. He has, in the legal sense, until the close of the first business-day following the day he gets the cheque, when, if he like, he can post it to his agent, who has the same time-allowance for presentment, provided the cheque be not drawn upon a bank in his own town. If he delay longer any loss incurred by the drawer through non-presentation will fall upon the payee’s shoulders. For instance, should the bank fail, the payee might be saddled with a bad debt through his delay.
A customer who has a doubtful cheque in his possession, and who is anxious to know whether the drawer has funds to meet it, can instruct his banker to forward the cheque in question direct to the drawer’s bankers, with the request that they telegraph back whether or not the cheque is paid. Or he may ask them to wire only in case of non-payment, and so save himself the expense of a telegram. Some companies, when they think a customer will stand it, charge 1s. for doing this; but one should decline to pay more than the price of the telegram, viz., 6d.