At the beginning of the year and without any warning at all my bank (the Nationwide) here in the UK wrote to me to say it wouldn't be able to process small Dollar cheques any more.

Initially there was confusion about what the minimum would be and why it was happening. It's now clear that $250 is the minimum whereas previously it was about $35. And this what they say is the reason for it:

"we had to withdraw the ability to deposit cheques for less than $250.00 due to US based banks refusing to cash any cheque for less than this amount if deposited abroad. This is due to the charges imposed on them by the US Treasury."

I wonder what effect this will have? Earnings from some adult sources are so small now that it might take two years or longer to reach $250. During which time, in the current climate, a company may go out of business.

Having money wired is prohibitively expensive for small amounts.

Back in January I was left holding two cheques from a particular company that I could no longer pay into my bank account. Since then I have been trying to get that company to reissue the amount as a cheque without success.

Years ago there were problems with US companies issuing cheques for tiny amounts and always the suspicion that they did so knowing that affiliates abroad would be unable to bank the cheques.

How many sponsors offer to pay via services such as Paxum? I am going to have to renew my passport before I can open an account there. The amount of personal information they ask for (including scans of birth certificate and passport) is worrying and there is no information about how it will be stored. I fear it is an identity theft waiting to happen.

Has anyone heard of these changes regarding cheques being a problem with other banks in th UK or elsewhere around the world?

I feel this is yet another nail in the coffin for the adult industry.