Postal Money Orders--isn't the PO supposed to cash them?

[Matt Meiser]

I went to the tiny post office near me and was going to have them cash a postal money order. She said they don't do that. I was under the impression they did, and their web site leads me to believe they are supposed to?

Its for $60, not like its a major amount of money.

Same clerk didn't know if they took Amex so I wouldn't be surprised if she just plain didn't know what she was doing.

[mike holden]

Not sure if they are supposed to or not, but I suspect not. You would not expect a western union office to cash a western union money order, you would go to a bank. I think the post office imprimatur simply verifies that the check is good.
I believe that the money is deposited in an account which the cashee of the check can draw against. I dont expect that post offices are authorized to have large amounts of cash in the tills.
Mike

[John Fabre]

I was told the same thing, my PO said that they are not a bank. If that was the case, better cash it before the PO shuts down.

[Doug W Swanson]

Before Ebay made sellers only accept Paypal, I would get USPS money orders all the time. I would also specifically request them because the each USPS office can verify if it's real or not. Although it's been a few years since I cashed one at the PO, they would always cash it for me. Maybe it has changed but I never had a problem....

[Dan Friedrichs]

Yeah, I always used to give them the money order, have them deduct the cost of the postage I'd just bought, and get the remainder back in cash...

[Joe Angrisani]

Over the years I have often (and always) cashed USPS Money Orders at the Post Office. I've cashed over a thousand dollars at once. I was always told the money just needed to be in the till, so the big ones had the best chance in the afternoon. I've even had one Englewood, CO Post Office call another Englewood, CO Post Office to see if they had enough before I drove over.

You can even have them pay you in stamps if it suits you.

[Myk Rian]

I take my USPS MOs to the bank.

[John C Lawson]

According to the USPS document at this link: http://pe.usps.com/archive/pdf/dmmarchive1209/s020.pdf It is dated in 2004, so it may have been superseded.

Redemption
2.2
All U.S. money orders, including military, may be cashed at any U.S. post office or
bank. Subject to funds availability, money orders may be cashed by rural carriers.

[Joe Angrisani]

I take my USPS MOs to the bank.

If you do that, they are treated as checks, and as such, you are responsible for any problems. Granted, USPS Money Orders are hard to fake. But if you get a ringer and deposit it, you're responsible for quite some time.

[Matt Meiser]

I'm not really concerned about that, I just needed to go to the PO and didn't need to go to the bank. Actually I virtually never need to go to the bank but I don't think I can deposit it through my cell phone either.

[Michael Weber]

Matt, to simplify your situation just send it to me and I'll take care of the details.

[Matt Meiser]

Michael, if only you'd caught me before--I have no plans to go back to the PO anytime soon and don't keep stamps around because I never mail anything small.

[Jim Becker]

Regarding your AMEX question...yes, the USPS accepts AMEX. That's all I use 99% of the time, including at the post office.

[Matt Meiser]

Yeah, I found the sign and saw that they did. Our main PO cashed it today no question.