Can anyone who works for a bank explain something to me?

[RedM]

Why does it take between 3 and 7 days to make a money transfer over the internet or in person in some cases?

If I buy petrol on my debit card it shows on my account before I get home.

If I take cash out at an ATM then it shows up almost instantly.

If this can be done then why can they not transfer money instantly? It's not like they have to physically get the money and take it to it's destination.

[Todd]

Just so they can make interest off your money, total con.

Think of the amount of cheques they have hanging about for 5 days then think of the interest they can make off it..............robbing bar stewards :(

[jefferson]

all depends on what bank you are with - its not all about profit as most people believe -
if a bank is not a clearing bank then it has to use a clearing company to verify that the funds were in the account in the first place - then that company sends either to the other bank or again to possibly another clearing company to then pass to the bank - under the banking code banks do not earn interest on your money while it is being transferred - so just to explain again (bearing in mind it does differ if it is a clearing bank or a non clearing bank)


bank/building society to clearing bank to clearing bank to bank/building society at the other end

........and no i have not made this up!

[adam bell]

in other countrys they hae to clear your check in the same day regardless of being a clearing bank.
its well known that the bank holds off your money to make money from it,thats why bankshave so much money and power to do what they like

[CJ]

all depends on what bank you are with - its not all about profit as most people believe -
if a bank is not a clearing bank then it has to use a clearing company to verify that the funds were in the account in the first place - then that company sends either to the other bank or again to possibly another clearing company to then pass to the bank - under the banking code banks do not earn interest on your money while it is being transferred - so just to explain again (bearing in mind it does differ if it is a clearing bank or a non clearing bank)


bank/building society to clearing bank to clearing bank to bank/building society at the other end

........and no i have not made this up!
So which of the big banks are not clearing banks?

[ivan]

all depends on what bank you are with - its not all about profit as most people believe -
if a bank is not a clearing bank then it has to use a clearing company to verify that the funds were in the account in the first place - then that company sends either to the other bank or again to possibly another clearing company to then pass to the bank - under the banking code banks do not earn interest on your money while it is being transferred - so just to explain again (bearing in mind it does differ if it is a clearing bank or a non clearing bank)


bank/building society to clearing bank to clearing bank to bank/building society at the other end

........and no i have not made this up!It's still all electronic transfer though surely?
There's no way it physically takes 3-5 days.

[Wez]

You can transfer same day but you have to pay extra.

[jefferson]

So which of the big banks are not clearing banks?

halifax and abbey are non clearing banks

the traditional big four are your clearing banks

barclays / rbos / natwest / hsbc - all others will clear funds through somewhere else first -
iirc alliance & leicester are the only building society with facilities like a clearing bank - as someone else said you can have funds moved the same day if you pay a fee for it - the fees are were the banks/building societies make money - not off the interest - if this were true everyone would surely be claiming back all the lost interest like they are with charges but it is simply not the case - it is a myth as under banking code regulations banks dont earn interest from your money - in fact banks clear cheques after 3 days even though it takes something like 7 days for the cheque to actually clear and so are actually clearing it earlier for you -

[CJ]

halifax and abbey are non clearing banks

the traditional big four are your clearing banks

barclays / rbos / natwest / hsbc - all others will clear funds through somewhere else first -
iirc alliance & leicester are the only building society with facilities like a clearing bank - as someone else said you can have funds moved the same day if you pay a fee for it - the fees are were the banks/building societies make money - not off the interest - if this were true everyone would surely be claiming back all the lost interest like they are with charges but it is simply not the case - it is a myth as under banking code regulations banks dont earn interest from your money - in fact banks clear cheques after 3 days even though it takes something like 7 days for the cheque to actually clear and so are actually clearing it earlier for you -

Therefore the clearing bank argument falls down for the majority of cases in this country as the big 4 will have a huge % of the British consumer business.

[Pete]

Same bank transfers are instant aren't they?

[juanchan]

Same bank transfers are instant aren't they?

Not with HSBC - still took 4-5 days for my money to reach my mates recently.

[carl0s]

I think CHAPS (£20) is instant, and BACS (£0) is ~3 days.
Cheques are "five days really but we let you draw on it after three" at my bank.

[Gaz Walker]

Info on BACS (Bankers Automated Clearing Services) is available on Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BACS

CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System) is for same day transfers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHAPS

They said in 2005 by the end of 2006 they'd get BACS transfers down to within 2 hours. Its not happened yet ;)

[ivan]

Same bank transfers are instant aren't they?Bloody Barclays take even longer if you transfer to another Barclays account. :(