What is the safest way to take large payments in France?
There is a tried-and-tested solution for situations such as selling your car to an individual
Using cash for large payments might not be the best avenue
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Reader question: I plan to sell a car privately – can you advise of a safe way to take payment for a large sum?
A popular way to ensure safe payment is to ask for a chèque de banque.
This is a cheque payable by the buyer’s bank for which a sum is taken out of the person’s account when the cheque is issued.
The payment is guaranteed as long as the recipient pays the cheque into their account within a year and eight days of its issue date.
Read more: Beware of 'contract killer' scam doing the rounds in France
The buyer can obtain this cheque from their bank, in person or in some cases by request via their personal online space.
Usually, if their account has sufficient funds, it can be issued within 48 hours. There is often a small fixed fee for issuing it.
A chèque de banque is a one-off document, different from a normal cheque from a chequebook.
You can check that such a cheque is authentic by holding it up to the light and looking for a watermark saying CHEQUE DE BANQUE on the back.
It is also advisable to meet the buyer during banking hours, search the issuing bank agency’s number on the internet yourself and phone to check it did issue it, giving the cheque number, amount, and the beneficiary’s name.
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