Pay in a cheque

Send your return, along with a cheque made payable to ‘HM Revenue and Customs only’, write your 15-digit reference number on the back of the cheque and send it to: HM Revenue and Customs Direct. Martin Lewis has issued an important warning to customers and former customers of HSBC, First Direct, M&S Bank and John Lewis Finance that they may get a letter out of the blue with a cheque in it. It comes as one man nearly binned an envelope containing £50 from First Direct after thinking it was a scam. We are working to fix this issue on Android devices ASAP. In the meantime you can pay cheque in at an HSBC branch or Post Office. Alternatively, you can write your sort code and account number on the back of the cheque and post is to us at First Direct, P.O. Box 1538, Northampton, NN1 9HY.

Use the mobile app

You can now pay in a cheque anytime, any place using your compatible phone.

Cheques that are paid in before 10pm on a working day using the app will be available by 11:59pm the next working day, providing it's not been returned unpaid.

You will still be able to pay in a total of £750 in cheques per day with an individual limit of £500 per cheque.

All you need to do to pay in a cheque on your app is to long press on the account you’d like to pay your cheque into and select ‘Pay in a cheque’. If you don’t have the ‘long press’ feature on your phone, select the account you want the cheque to be paid into.

On an iOS phone, you will then need to tap the three dots on the top right of the screen and then select ‘Pay in a cheque’.

If you have an Android phone, you will need to tap the plus sign which can be found on the bottom right of the screen and then select ‘Pay in a cheque’.”

Once you have done this then enter the amount that is on the cheque, scan the front and back of it and submit this to us. It’s easy as that and you don’t need to post them in anymore or go to a branch or the post office.

Paying in a cheque is quick and simple to do in the app but if you want a look at how you can do it check out our video. If you have any questions about paying in a cheque in the app, see our FAQs for more information.

Post them into us

To pay in cheques by post all you need to do is request a paying in envelope in Online Banking by selecting:

Manage Accounts>cheques>How do I pay cheques into my account>Order Paying in envelopes

Or you can use your own envelope and send the cheque to us at:

first direct, PO Box 1538, Northampton, NN1 9HY.

And if you don’t have a paying in slip, just send the cheque along with a covering letter including your name, sort code, account number and when you’d like the cheque to credit. Leave the rest to us.

In a branch

We don't have branches - but our friends over at HSBC do. And lots of them. So if you need to pay in cheques, you can drop into your local branch.

At the Post Office®

First Direct Pay In Cheque By Post

You can pay in cheques, using a pre-printed first direct credit slip, from your paying-in book. You'll also require a HSBC Post Office® cheque deposit envelope - which you'll find on the Post Office® counter. Do not put cash in the deposit envelopes.

Cheques paid into the Post Office® may take a day longer to reach your account than cheques paid in at HSBC branches - and this is assuming you do it before the Post Office® branch cut-off time. They'll be able to tell you when this is.

To find your nearest office or check opening times:

Cheque Payment Procedure

Date:

First Direct Paying In Cheques

The EIP belongs to the Social Security or SSI beneficiary. It is not a Social Security or SSI benefit. A representative payee should discuss the EIP with the beneficiary. If the beneficiary wants to use the EIP independently, the representative payee should provide the EIP to the beneficiary. If the beneficiary asks the representative payee for assistance in using the EIP in a specific manner or saving it, the representative payee can provide that assistance outside the role of a representative payee.