If you’re anything like me and you’ve ever had to transfer money from one bank account to another – especially from an online account to a bricks and mortar bank – you may have noticed how long it takes for the money to show up in your account.
In some cases when you transfer money it can take 3, 4, or even 5 days for the money to show up.
If you’re transferring a large amount of money from an online savings account to a checking account, for example, like we were when were when we bought our new car last year, it can be frustrating to have to wait while the banks take their sweet time with your transfer or deposit.
So why is it that those bank transfers take so long? What can you do to ensure that they happen as quickly as possible?
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Bank Transfers Slowed Down To Avoid Fraud, And To Make Some Money
We live in an age where you can make a purchase at your local grocery store and have the charge show up on your online account register within minutes, but we can’t transfer money from one bank to another in less than a few days. Wouldn’t you think it’d be possible to transfer money almost instantaneously?
That probably is the case, but banks don’t allow those instant transfers in order to reduce the risk of fraud.
But in a remarkably interconnected, instantaneous world, where a debit-card purchase shows up in our bank accounts right away, it’s equally remarkable that online transfers can be so slow. Here’s the hitch: Funds transferred between two different banks or a bank and a brokerage firm aren’t really sent “online” in the way we have come to expect. Instead, these large transfers move in steps. Banks have slowed down the process further to reduce the chance of fraud, even though such fraud is fairly rare. (Years ago, Congress forced banks to speed up the clearing of checks and the availability of deposits, but it hasn’t addressed electronic payments.)
So banks are slowing down the process in order to ensure there isn’t fraud happening when the transfer is made. Others, however, have suggested that the time the funds are held overnight allow the banks to invest your money and keep that unearned profit. This could also be a reason why the process won’t be speeding up anytime soon – the banks don’t want to give up that profit center.
Transferring Money Happens In Steps
So what exactly happens when you transfer money?
- Your originating bank sends transactions in batches during the day to an automated clearinghouse.
- The automated clearinghouse sorts the transactions and the moves them on to the receiving bank, usually in a few hours.
- In many cases the receiving bank will have the funds the same day. Depending on when the transactions are sent in a batch, the funds may not be available until the next day.
There is an association for these automated clearinghouses that sets rules for transfers, called Nacha. Their rules say that money transferred on one day, should be available by the end of the following day. So if you send money on Monday, it should be available by the end of Tuesday.
Three Day Good Funds Model
The problem is that the wait doesn’t always end there. The receiving banks often take 2-4 days for funds to be released to customers because they are following what they call the “”three-day good funds model”, which basically means they’ll hold the funds for three days to make sure it’s not a fraudulent transaction.
Fraud, while it is only a small fraction of transactions, is still a big problem. There was over 1.848 billion dollars worth in debit and check related fraud in 2010.
Deposits Take Even Longer At Times
Deposits can take even longer to happen at times, in part because the bank wants to ensure that the funds are good. They won’t know that the funds are good until the money actually arrives, so many banks will hold deposits for up to 5 business days at times. So be aware of that, and know what your bank’s policy is.
Plan Ahead When Transferring Or Depositing Money
There are things you can do to ensure that you have access to your money as soon as possible.
- Do your best to send your transfer early in the day to give yourself the best chance of the money being sent to the clearinghouse that day.
- Have a checking account from the same bank, often transfers within the same bank will happen the same day.
- If your transaction takes longer than a couple of business days, complain to the bank where the transfer originated. If funds aren’t credited quickly to the receiving bank the originating bank can be fined by Nacha.
When it comes down to it, your best bet for having quick turn around time on transfers and deposits is to either have a checking and savings at the same bank, or to deposit a check using the bank’s remote deposit feature as those can have quicker turn around times.
How long do your bank transfers typically take? Have you ever had one take longer than 5 days?
This is frustrating at times, but seems the price of doing business with an online only bank. I wonder if it is a conspiracy of the brick and mortar banks to punish those using online banks? I think the slow transfers also stop those hopping from bank to bank to get the best interest rates.
Good article, I have often wondered about the delays in transfer/deposit transactions. Just always figured the banks were profiting from the float.
I come straight from banking and will give you the real answer as to why transfers take so long. i will address transfers between institutions, Lets say Joe pays his credit card balance at Bank A using his chequing account at Bank B. The truth is the actual transfer of funds is virtually instant. but the funds will not be credited to the recipients accounts for at least 2 and usually several business days. The receiving institution however records this capital as an asset on its books and is free to invest the funds in the overnight market which they do. Now sure the amount they make is small BUT do it across 10s or100s of millions accounts for multiple days and it is a tidy sum of money. BTW Costco make a fortune doing a similar thing because they dont pay their suppliers for 60 days and in the meanwhile they have sold all their inventory and have the cash which they invest. It is the most profitable part of Costco’s business model. The banks are in essence using your money to invest even though you have not authorized them to do so. It gets even worse when you go transfer from one currency to another. There not only does the bank invest your money but they often take much longer, sometimes weeks and I guarantee you will be getting the worst exchange rate during the period If you ask banks what is going on they will say there is a standard processing time which is what they have told all their customer service agents to say.
I worked for WF for 23 years. What you have said is an absolute fact.
I should probably write a post on how AWESOME USAA Bank is. I have several accounts at different banks, with USAA being my main institution. When I initiate the transfer from my USAA account, the funds are deposited instantly, no waiting. For instance, I might have $300 sitting in my Ally mutual fund and I need it in my USAA account. If I were to initiate the transfer from Ally, it would take a minimum of 3 business days…so if I did it on a Friday it would be Wednesday of the next week at the earliest before I would get it. However, should I initiate it from USAA, the funds are credited instantly.
On top of all this, their customer service is second to none. I’ve never had a poor interaction, and I’ve been banking there for two years. When I call I’m greeted by a human, and handled by that person…no transferring!
The common misconception about USAA is that you have to be affiliated with the military to have an account there, but that is untrue. USAA has offered their checking and savings products to the general public for years. However, in order to use all of their services, such as home and car insurance or mortgage services, you do have to be affiliated. This affiliation could be as simple as your mother or father having prior service – it doesn’t mean you have to have been enlisted….
I absolutely love them, and will be a customer for life….you can enroll online in a matter of minutes…when is the last you’ve heard that from someone about a bank??
oh yeah…and another totally sweet perk is that your direct deposits are made available a full day before any other bank makes them available….I get paid every other Thursday, while my co-workers have to wait until Friday….woot woot!
Now, if only they would offer “perks” like Perkstreet…. hmmm.
I also have USAA and love their service. My step-dad is in the Air Force and I have one of their “Teen Checking” and “Teen Savings” accounts. I’m not really sure what the difference is, but that’s what it’s called. Anyway, I love their service. If I’m standing at Best Buy trying to buy an $800 computer and I only have $700 in my checking account, I can get on the USAA app on my phone and transfer the $100 to my checking right there at the cash register before swiping my card. The funds go instantly and are available as soon as I tap “Transfer” on my phone.
Another thing that’s instant is cashing checks. Again, I use the USAA app for this and all you do is take a photo of the check with your phone’s camera. The funds are available instantly and can be spent as soon as you snap the photo. Also super nice.
The only thing that’s annoying with USAA is transferring money from PayPal. When I initiate a PayPal transfer to either my checking or savings account, it takes about 3 or 4 days to show up in my account. But I know my mom can transfer funds from her Bank of America account to USAA instantly, so maybe it’s a PayPal thing.
The only problem I have ever had with them is an ugly series of overdraft fees and it was PayPal’s fault. I was supposed to have overdraft protection with my savings account, but apparently something got screwed up along the way. Anyway, I bought something on eBay and paid via PayPal. They attempted to make an ACH withdraw from my account for $50 or something like that and it was a case where my balance in my checking was $47 or something. Very close. The payment didn’t go through, but USAA charged me a $25 overdraft fee. Then PayPal tried again. Another $25. And again. Another $25. I logged onto my account and saw that I had negative $24 or so and thought it was funny. So I called USAA and they not only reversed all $75 I had in fees, but they fixed my overdraft protection so it wouldn’t do that again.
I’m 15 years old now and when I end up moving out of my parents’ house and go to college I will most likely stay with USAA. I’m not planning on being military, but my step-dad will be retired Air Force by then, so I should be okay according to what you said. The only issue I have is they don’t have a physical bank in Florida so if I have $500 in cash I want to put into my savings, I can’t.
I always wanted to bank with them but I don’t have a military background.. so sad
You do not need one just for checking or savings.
I am astonished by any favorable comments of subpar, bloated USAA Bank and the ones above must be ten years old or else written by USAA employees, because USAA has gone straight down to the dumpster in the last decade, 2010-18, IMO. I am not alone: Do an online search of consumer affairs and USAA and you will find 417 complaints of USAA Bank, its poorly or untrained staff, their lack of accountability and their incompetence. I discovered those after I found, too late, that USAA cannot even complete a bank to bank wire transfer. If you want to be upset, your funds into a dark hole and unaccounted for, although acknowledged as received by USAA, and if you want to be upset for hours, days, weeks trying to regain access and control of your funds, then too big to care USAA is just your ticket. Do yourself a favor never get involved with USAA at all. If you do BUYER BEWARE. You would be much better off at a credit union or local community bank than USAA. Really.
As of 1-11-2021 I have been banking everything with USAA ( checking, savings, credit card, & insurance policies for different UTV, auto, home, camper/toy hauler & Harley’s) for 4 strong years. I have been most impressed with them & no matter the issue I have always gotten top notch service. You even have access to discounts for vacations, travel, car rental, flights, hotels, & even online shopping for most big chains. I am sorry your experience has not been nearly as great as mine (& no I am in no way an employee bahaha my husband is a veteran working at railroad & I am a fulltime stay at home mom/wife & I am certainly not the kind that keeps a seat warm.) Just before we went to USAA we had progressive insurance drop our house insurance literally the night before we made a 3rd claim on our roof that they made up other excuses for it leaking during heavy rain. They said it was never the roof the 1st 2 times. We never got a notice at all nor did progressive ever pay out a single penny for the first 2 claims on the same exact problem. Husband & I ended up having to shell out $5k in materials & thankfully he is a man of many talents & fixed it himself. Then we took ALL of our business to USAA. Believe me progressive screwed themselves with all the policies we have for valuables.
Thankfully we do not have these problems in Australia. Checks (cheques) are nearly a thing of the past – we send all payments & transfers electronically, including internationally and if sent by the cut off time (ususally around 3-5pm depending on the individual bank) is processed overnight.
In my office we are six of us including myself, Company head office is in NSW we get paid every second Wednesday. Everyone in my office receives their wages by 9 am where my bank can be as fast as 18 hours later if I am lucky. I am with BankWest and live in Perth. Any suggestions how to fast track my salary transfers… Or should I change my bank? All 6 six of us banks with six different banks and they all get their pay by 9 every Second Wednesday.
Have your wages deposited to a CBA account. They are probably the fastest I know of.
I have a question. Why does it take 3-5 working days for Centrelink payments to go into a bank account? This is a government payment, there should be no delay as there is no chance of there being any Fraud. Centrelink release the funds on the night of the day the request is made the bank holds it for 2-4 more days before putting it into the account.
you are absolutely right del
Yeah you are right. So much love Australia banking system. Last year when I traveled for work and it way time for me to get paid, I got my payment the next day. I wish B.O.A can do the same it will help me a lot while buying materials for work
You do realize they’re talking about electronic transfers and not actual checks right?
QUESTION? Asking for a little help.
Where do you put your savings so that it is SAFE, NO RISK, but that it is growing consistently 4 to 5%, that is still liquid so you can use it if you need it. Preferably the growth should be tax free. Please help me out on this friends or who ever.
Good overview. I always wondered why the processing happened so slow. Initially setting up an account for deposit from, say Fidelity to a different financial institution takes forever as well, likely because of the security issues you pointed out.
Bitcoin will nuke all that. Open source decentralized banking through a simple cryptographic currency will make the banks as obsolete as telegraph is in this age of social media and instant fast communications.
I already live 90% through bitcoins and will never ever look back.
How’d that work out for ya bud
Probably very well….considering btc is worth over 53k LMFAO
Bitcoin is a pure pyramid scheme and you’re blind if you think anything otherwise
It being worth 53k for a single coin is a massive usability problem. That is the literal definition of unchecked disgusting inflation, caused by every single transaction itself also costing a piece of the self-same currency.
And good luck solving validation when the ledger gets so massive it takes several hours to process every minor transaction.
Crypto is a scam created to run illegal deals under the false pretense that it can’t be tracked. But most of you idiots running it don’t even know what a simple VPN is and are as traceable as your credit card
A friend of the family sent some money to a different country, daughter got sick while she was there…
The bank want let the person have it he sent it to and want send it back to the owner been 6 weeks…
Who do you talk to to get the ball rolling…?
USAA is horrible for HOLDING deposits. Last night I deposited a $795 check and my balance was over $2,000, and they are still holding the check for 7 days. They even hold some checks for 10 days. I also deposited a check from a hospital for $8.00 and they are holding that one too for 7 days!! I complained, but that never helps. She just asked if I read the user agreement. The bank to bank transfer time is acceptable with USAA. I am not at all happy with the check deposit procedure via mobile deposit and I will be looking for another bank.
They are the worst I’ve ever encountered. Transfers from USAA to another bank are credited that day or the next. But the other way, USAA holds for 5 days or more.
The wait is because banks are thieves. That’s no secret. We are forced to use banks even to cash our work paychecks, not allowed to receive cash, soon there will be no cash. They charge outrageous fees for everything you do there and they hold your money for 3 – 5 days in an account full of peoples money gaining interest.
They have really great excuses explaining fraud because they know plenty about that. They can transfer money with the push of a button instantly. The same thing is done with 401k. Give them your money to save. That’s great, that way they can make money off everyone’s money for their whole life, not just 3 – 5 days. All of our money, which is worthless backed by nothing, is in the bank. They are thieves and I think we’re all smart enough to know that by now. That’s why banks have the biggest buildings in every town and city. They own your car and house too, not you. Keep using them banks!
^^^^ yep….all about the bank making more money and nothing about the risk of fraud. Especially when the money is being transferred within the same banking system…i.e. WellsFargo. Why is this not illegal? They make buckets o’ money just by virtue of ‘keeping it ‘safe’ in an account as they invest our funds and give us a measly .01% savings account interest! What a joke.
Community bank NA in NY, has been refusing to release my money. I’m 83 years old and moved from NY to SC 2 years ago, I never switched banks when I moved out of state cause I had a debit card with community bank for 4 years that I’ve been using with no problems until July 2017 when I realized that my debit card would be expiring ( had it 4 years) the end of the month so I called community bank on July 3rd, 2017 and asked them to mail me a new debit card before mine expires on July 31st, 2017. Community bank told me they would send me out my new debit card but the branch Manger “Accidentally” put it through the bank system as lost/stolen instead of requesting replacement expired card. Community bank locked down my funds and I’ve been over a month with no access to any of my money. At 83 I’ve got several medical conditions that’s requiring me to take medications for open heart surgery and insulin for diabetes. I can’t buy my medication with the bank locking down my entire account. I asked Community bank to transfer it to my daughters bank in SC where I’ve been living the past two years but the community bank manager told me I would need to come into their bank branch office which is 13 hours from me and at 83 I’m not able to drive or take long trips. It’s now August 5th, 2017 and community bank has still not released any of my funds or mailed me a new debit card. My social security check is my only monthly income and it was direct deposited to community bank na in NY on August 3rd 2017. I recently opened a bank account in the state of SC where I’ve resided the past two years and social security is aware not to deposit my money with community bank NA in NY beginning September 3rd, 2017. I guess community bank na can’t be trusted for elderly to be baking with them. Poor customer service. Worder if community bank is hoping I’ll pass away and they can keep my money.
Sounds like you need a good lawyer. It sounds like they have not made any effort to resolve their own error. They are wrecking your good credit in the process of being stupid. Get and attorney and go after them!
Oh, that;s hard and have you gotten your money until now? Mrs Dee potter?
My fiance and I are looking to book our venue for our wedding, and for the venue to hold our date they required a $3000 deposit down. So ok, we thought no problem let me just put that on the credit card. Oddly enough they didnt take credit card only checks. ( which I thought was odd being that you rarely hear about checks being used anymore) I was not going to have the immediate $3000 cash for a few weeks in my checking account to write a check. We decided to transfer the cash against the CC to the checking account. The CC shows on Friday 8/18/2017 that it was accepted ( and shows 3 grand less on my CC limit) and that it would take tops 2 days to clear and show in my checking. its now 8/23/2017 and no sign at all of money being transferred. Is this normal? My bank was not much of any help with this matter.
Hoping you could shed some light on this.
Not sure what to tell you on this one. Typically within 3-5 days the deposit would be showing up in your bank. Any longer than that and I would be on the phone until they found the money, especially if it has been shown by your credit card to have been accepted.
I’ve been waiting on a refund from grayhound bus, transacted on Oct. 6,2017, it is now Oct. 14, 2017, what can the problem be?
I recently recovered my investment from a a scam broker, Glad the nightmare is over. Happy to share my experience.
Hi Peter
Thanks for the article.
Many Blessings
Hi just answering the question how long do your bank transfers take normally,I have one come in from a bank in England every month to my Bank here in the USA now normally the bank post it the same day or by the end of the next day,BUT!! this month Jan 2018 my transfer took 9 days to be posted to my account,and that makes me wonder did they hold it to make profit off my money,I had called the bank at least 3 times asking was there any transfers pending for me,and NO was the answer,the Bank staff must get told to say that,and this is money I need to live here for rent food ect,but unfortunately I cant prove any of it,if the bank kept it or not,it seems very secretive.
Great article.
These banks slow the funds to confuse and make cash. I am pretty good with my money but when it comes to banking and trying to keep track its almost impossible. They know that most people live paycheck to paycheck and they are taking advantage of this by counting on them going over and charging 40.00 per overage on transactions, its pretty sick, they have the upper hand for sure.
Yea, you are with the wrong bank. Google Discover Bank
why banks make you wait to get YOUR money
All banks lie, no matter what image or marketing they present. An electronic transfer is near instant, it is not even money, it is electronic credit. Created by a keyboard.
The key point here is they are subtly training you to accept that though the money or credit belongs to you, they take control of YOUR money. Some of these online banks take the control factor to far, PayPal, Payoneer etc. Paypal, in particular, cannot be trusted, they seize credit transfers under what is clearly goobly gook made up reasons. Then they hold this credit/money in their own account and profit from it.
Generally, PayPal should be closed down or forced by legislation to understand and respect money/credit belonging to people and to understand their actions of seizing money belonging to others is illegal. The claim for preventing fraud is a complete lie. The average person can not create a fraudulent credit transfer, only banks are capable of doing that, and they regularly do it.
The banks are pushing electronic credit while aiming to get rid of real money. As soon as they have everybody running around using a plastic card with a chip in it, they will have full control over everyone. This must not be allowed to happen.
i have a problem right now..
my husband who is working in high sea transfered his fund to my account which involved a big amount of money .. the bank ask me to pay $220 for the transfer , so we pay .. after a 3 days he message me that i have to pay another $550 for the upgrading of my account because my account could not be able to accept that big amount of money so we pay , and now he wants us to pay for another $150 for the world bank code .. its been a month that its all like this..
where can i get help regarding about this?
Even having your checking and savings at the same bank makes no difference. If it’s a large transfer, apparently, BofA is holding it for 5 days which is ridiculous.
Same nonsense here in Canada (5 to 8 business days) between CIBC and Tangerine.
very informative but in this era time is everything,the processes should be hastened.
Someone transfered money to me to a wells Fargo account and the bank already gave him date when the money will be reflecting thats 24/05/19 but till now no money yet does that have to do with fraud or can you withdraw deposit back ?
Well, international paper-check deposits in and from another country’s currency drawn on that country’s bank, are taking, according to my bank, 6-8 WEEKS or more to “clear.” When I used to live by the mail-deposit-into-Bank-of-America from Canada back in like ’07, it would only take them like two weeks to clear; now they’re telling me two MONTHS?? Meanwhile I sit up here with no money and nowhere to go for free, can’t even buy food. I guess starvation to death is my lesson in international banking. Not, “don’t do it that way again,” more like don’t do it again unless I can afford to wait 8 weeks for that amount to show up in my account. Won’t matter, though, 6-8 weeks of surviving entirely on Starbucks sugar packets and whatever coffee drinks people leave behind half-drunk, I’ll be dead by then.
Who wrote this article? Lmao what a tongue twister
My money was sent through global money transfer last 23rd February. It’s bee almost two weeks now that i haven’t received.i need my money…what will i do?
So, as somone who actually worked for an online bank, named Discover, you know a small company(sarcasm), you really mislead people here, and it’s why I would have people calling and yelling at me asking where there money is. The transfer will never be instant, because there is real fraud protection going on, it isn’t done by either bank. When the money leaves your account, it goes straight to the FDIC first, and they make sure there is no money laundering ect going on. In all reality, 2-3 business days is the real timeframe you should be given, but’s the other key you completely failed to mention for planning ahead. Money DOES NOT move on holidays or weekends. So you send money Friday afternoon, Tuesday is the second business, which would be quick and perfectly done, but that’s “four days from now” let alone if it’s a Monday holiday that week. You MUST plan for holidays and weekends, that’s honestly tip number one in my book. There are banks that nickel and dime you, and try and screw you over, but it’s definitely not most, because that’s an all online bank. I don’t work there any longer, but I highly recommend Discovers Banking product. Absolutely fee for anything at all, your non wire, also known as ACH(automated clearing house) transfers are free and take 2-3 business days.
This is a thing that for a Chilean who went to live abroad faced incredible and absurd for me. In Chile, banks transfers are instant, even on interbank transfers. It makes sense to us that because all that info of money is on computarized systems. That´s why in Chile almost all things are paid by card, even a gum packet. It also helps that there is a monopoly over ATM and card processing companies, being Redbanc the company that holds all the ATM network and Transbank, the only company that process card payments. Because of that, there isn´t a fee of using out-of-network ATMs. You can just go to any ATM and it doesn´t matter which bank is the ATM.
I made a large payment to a client at Capitec Friday evening from my fnb account. Thy told me 3 working days excluding weekends.
Today will be 4 working days it is 9:30 and my client say she still did not get it..
It was a large amount and dun after hours but yesterday thy told me it will be in during the day?
I can not fathom why it should take that long to check against fraud when it’s going from my account…to my other account with a different label! It’s PURE BS.
I see Nacha.org members approved a measure to increase the per-payment maximum from the current $100,000 to $1 million effective March 18, 2022. It will apply to all eligible Same Day ACH payments, including credits and debits for both businesses and consumers. YET MY OWN FUNDS IN MY OWN ACCOUNTS TAKE 5 DAYS???
I am being punished for moving MY money around. I will not be allowed to utilize it nor even SEE it, for a period of 5 days. How the heck more people aren’t up in arms about this, I don’t know. Either they have more than they need and don’t miss it, or so little they don’t transfer any of it around. But this really should be addressed. In this day and age, there’s no excuse for this type of delay.
I’m calling BS on this one too. They keep the money on their balance sheet for a few days and use it to make even more money. How often do you think a transfer from let’s say a BofA checking account to another checking account at Chase Bank is fraudulent? Come on…time to stop believing those financial fairytales.
Agreed – Look at PayPal – they hold everything for the maximum amount of time, put those funds into an interest bearing account to earn the interest, then you get your money. It may seem like a little amount over 3-7 days, but imagine that for every transaction from deposits and transfers to returning/refunding money (the longest I had to wait was 10 days once). I’ll never use PayPal again, they tried to take money out of my Chase checking account AFTER I had initiated a cancellation – well within the allotted time frame, but since I was familiar with PayPal, I temporarily transfered all of my checking into savings to see what the’d do and sure enough, I had an alert from my bank the following morning for insufficient funds to PayPal, I immediately disconnected my bank from them as well as PayPal owned Venmo.
Very interesting article. I honestly didn’t think this was, is, so prevalent. I suppose it should feel like a relief other people have experienced waiting for deposits, whether by mail, scanning, or electronic. But it really doesn’t, because it really doesn’t make sense. Why when I purchase something (POS) does that immediately post to my checking account (using a debit card) and then when a business has issued me a refund, electronically, 2 days later it’s not even posted or pending or anything in my account. That’s ridiculous. This needs to work both ways. The business that issued me the refund is a national chain, well known. I don’t even think that when it is posted, USAA will even release me the funds, instead labeling them as “pending” for at least a few days. That’s my money, not theirs.
I’m calling complete bs on this 3-10 day “hold” process for transferring money or making deposits.. In this day and age of lightening fast electronic transactions, sure, fraud will happen – but couldn’t we say the same about the instantaneous debit card transactions consumers initiate a bazillion times a day at the grocery store? When I make a purchase for milk and eggs at Kroger’s, my smart phone immediately buzzes and alerts me to the reduction of money in my checking account. But couldn’t that be fraud too?? With this theory of making bank transfers a lengthy process due to all this fraud, shouldn’t there be a 3-7 day “hold” on any money I authorize with a debit card purchase?? No, because this would be unacceptable to the merchant. Just as it should be unacceptable for any holds on bank transfers and deposits……
This is just a major money grab on the part of the banking industry, all at the expense of the little consumer… I call bullshit…….
Ask yourself how much money is currently in limbo (the space between banks), and when you realize what a huge amount it is ask yourself who is profiting from this float.
This does not really jive with the fact that if you suspect fraud on a transaction you can’t even report it until the transaction has posted. so why the wait for potential fraud but the fraud can’t be reported in that window. Can you explain this?
My best friend from early school days went to work in the Clydesdale Bank and over his 30 year career – able to retire early at 50 on a pension larger than my Army Major’s pay!! – informed me some time ago never to use the BACS system of payments between accounts for two primary reasons:
1. The delay between transfers, ostensibly to prevent fraud, is used by scammers these days to appear to purchase goods from a legitimate but gullible vendor – a private car for example – and having collected the item then cancel the transfer during the ‘pending’ BACS delay scheme – in actual effect getting away with stealing it. So much then for fraud prevention!?!
2. The BACS delay system allows banks – both paying and receiving – to continue to gain interest albeit at a miniscule .01 or even .001 percent: however when multiplied by the billions constantly flowing between BACS accounts means banks continue to make massive profits. Is this fundamentally officially sanctioned fraud?
My message then is always to use a fast track system for transferring funds between private accounts and as a vendor never part with an item for sale until you are positive that it has been paid for and that the money you received was either in cash – a further reason why the banks want to do away with cash? – or has been cleared by your bank as lodged and available in your account and not merely ‘pending’.
“Caveat emptor et venditor” in today’s world of multiple techno crooks!
Fraud concern and Profit would be the ONLY reason for delays on bank to bank transfer of funds! I had the audacity to request a wire transfer of funds from my SAVINGS to a reputable merchant and my Credit Union Insulted the hell out of me, with prying questions and finally suggesting I MIGHT BE TRYING TO LAUNDER ill gotten gains! THESE TWATS KNOW the source of my funds! My SAVINGS FAR EXCEED ANY purchase that I make, including a current Credit Card payment in limbo, as they play their BS GAMES! FRAUD IS NOT A CONCERN HERE and funds availability are NOT the issue, as they just transfer one’s and zero’s electronically! I GET IT, when it comes to concerns of Fraud, but obviously it is a matter of Government regulations, to document ALL YOU DO over $600, as we all must be aware of by now OR a money making PONZI SCHEME in the banking industry. I accept it is BOTH of these, that result in the largest delays!