Foreign Item Deposit Restrictions

IU has recently received notification from our banks of dollar restrictions that have been placed on the minimum United States Dollar (USD) equivalent of international items that they will send for collection. Recent changes in the cost and manner in which U.S. banks collect on and clear international checks is requiring IU to become more restrictive about payments received via international check, money order, and cashier's check.

Effective May 1, 2007 IU will no longer be able to accept any international check or negotiable instrument that has a U.S dollar value of $250.00 or less. International items sent to the bank for deposit of $250.00 USD or less may be returned unprocessed and may result in a loss to the department.

Procedures for depositing international items over $250.00 must be obtained from Treasury. Contact the moneymov group email or phone 812-855-9268 for the most current procedures.

Please see definitions below for a description of the terms ‘international item’, ‘collection’ and ‘collection process’.

Definitions:

1. An international item is considered any check, draft, cashiers check, or money order that meets at least one of the following criteria:
   1. Item drawn on any bank not physically located in the US.
   2. Item payable thru any bank not physically located in the US.
   3. Item written in any currency that is not U.S. dollars.
   4. Item drawn on a Canadian Bank.
   5. Item drawn on a US bank but payable in a foreign currency.
   6. Item drawn on a non-US bank but payable in US dollars.
2. To receive the money from an international item it must be sent for collection:
   1. Collection is the process by which a U.S. bank submits an international item for payment to a non-U.S (foreign) bank.
   2. Collection Process: IU deposits an international item to our bank. Our bank (a U.S. bank) submits the item for payment to the foreign bank. The foreign bank assesses a fee for processing the payment request. The payment, less the foreign bank fee is applied to a foreign currency exchange rate and the remaining funds are forwarded in U.S dollars to the U.S bank that originally submitted the item for payment. Upon receipt the U.S. bank assesses a fee for its role in the foreign item collection process. Funds from the original payment and all associated fees are applied to an IU bank account. This collection process typically takes 2-4 months.

Should you need to accept international payments of $250.00 USD or less please contact Treasury via phone 812-855-0586 or by email for processing options. These options would include credit card. Please state in any message that you leave that you are interested in processing options available for international payments. You can also find information about these approved revenue processing options on the Treasurer’s Office web site.