Interesting - Cheque deposited on Thursday already cleared?

D1zzy

firsttimestudent wrote: »

Hey, thanks so much for your replies.

I am really tempted to move the available balance to my e-Savings account, but was really worried it will suddenly become 'unavailable' - and I'll get stung with unauthorized overdrafts etc.

Will this happen? Or do you think it's prudent for me to leave it until Thursday?

Your online view gives you both balance and available balance - if you have no agreed overdraft (which would be included in your available balance) the difference is uncleared funds. If there is no difference the funds are cleared and you should be ok to transfer to your E-savings.

Mikeyorks

firsttimestudent wrote: »

I am really tempted to move the available balance to my e-Savings account, but was really worried it will suddenly become 'unavailable' - and I'll get stung with unauthorized overdrafts etc.

It's illogical that it cleared so quickly .... as central Clearing is a standard 3 working day process. But if it's showing as 'available' then you should be able to move it.

bankmanager

firsttimestudent wrote: »

Hi,

I just saw something very interesting.

I deposited a Nationwide cheque into my Natwest account last Thursday, for an amount of 985.00. Interestingly, the cheque is now showing up as part of the available balance on my Natwest Online Banking.

How could it be that quick the clearing? Should I leave the amount in my current account until Thursday (that's 4 working days) before moving the amount to my e-Savings account? Or can I actually move them now?

Thanks!

Very few cheques do take less time to clear. For example some building societies clear bankers drafts or building society chqs sooner or maybe its a "house cheque". This is a cheque drawn on the same bank AND branch that you are paying into. This means it is oked for payment in that branch rather than being done centrally. Or it could be a facility by which the bank lets you access a certain amount of uncleared funds immediately but at your own liablity. Check your terms and conditions :j

Mikeyorks

bankmanager wrote: »

or maybe its a "house cheque". This is a cheque drawn on the same bank AND branch that you are paying into.

........ or maybe not? From your own quote :-

firsttimestudent wrote:

I deposited a Nationwide cheque into my Natwest account

charlieboycat

Well I've had a current account with NatWest for 30 years, have had online banking with them since they first provided an eSavings account - and cheques paid in have ALWAYS become "available" two bank working days later. I don't leave funds unnecessarily in the current account, have always transferred elsewhere (maybe to eSavings, maybe BACS or Faster Payments to another savings institution) two working days after paying-in, and have never had a problem.

I can see that there would be a problem if a cheque subsequently bounced - I'd have an unexpected and unwanted overdraft, quite possibly significantly in excess of my agreed overdraft limit. But if I thought there was the remotest possibilty of a cheque bouncing I'd wait.

I was therefore somewhat surprised to read some of the comments on this thread. In particular:

- My experience is that NatWest has always been totally consistent in making cheque deposits "available" two days after paying in.

- I had always assumed that Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC (ie. proper banks, as distict from former building societies that like to think they are banks) did exactly the same as NatWest.

Mikeyorks

charlieboycat wrote: »

I had always assumed that Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC (ie. proper banks, as distict from former building societies that like to think they are banks) did exactly the same as NatWest.

No - they don't do that. They - with some minor variation - follow the 2-4-6 scenario for cheque clearing :-

http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/246/-/page/113/

...... which means the value isn't available until the 4th working day (interest after 2) after deposit.

Be interesting if you can post a link to where NatWest offer clearance for value after 2 days? As I'm sure I've looked in the past - without success.

rb10

In Natwest's T&Cs of their current accounts, they are surprisingly vague about how they implement the cheque clearance cycle. (The T&Cs are here, relevant part is page 7)

Firstly, it seems that they can delay the whole process by one day if they like, or two days if you pay in anywhere other than the 'branch where you have your account'.

So this day (up to two days after you actually paid in the cheque) is the date that it is added to your balance. Then,

(c) The money will be available for you to use no later than four
business days after it is added to your balance.

Nothing about letting you draw on them earlier there ... although of course, it does have the magic words 'no later than'.

So all in all, very vague, so it would appear that if you pay in a cheque on Monday, they could make it available immediately (as it's 'no later than...'), or make you wait until the following Tuesday (added to balance on Wed, after two days, then wait a further four days for it to be available).

charlieboycat

Mikeyorks wrote: »

Be interesting if you can post a link to where NatWest offer clearance for value after 2 days? As I'm sure I've looked in the past - without success.

Humm ... no idea I'm afraid. Doubt if I've looked at their current account T&Cs since the joint account was opened (upon marriage) 31 years ago. All I've got to go on is practical experience.

It can't be because I'm one of their highly valued (ha-ha) Private Banking customers 'cos they only conferred that dubious status on the account relatively recently (after I'd retired and my income had fallen). Doesn't seem likely it would be a hangover from old T&Cs because they send me new T&C leaflets on a regular basis (yes - I know I ought to read them, but I don't).

To me "available" means I can avail myself of the funds - eg. by BACSing or FPing elsewhere. My experience in practice is that I can always do this after 2 working days (ie. as soon as they show online as "available").

I don't have any experience of the practices of the other High Street banks - but there seems to be a suggestion that my experience with NatWest isn't consistent with the experience of (some) other NatWest customers. I find it difficult to believe that for (some) other NatWest customers it takes 4 days (not 2) for the funds to show up as "available". Why should we be a "special case"?

However, I find it even more difficult to believe that NatWest always shows the funds as "available" after 2 days but then don't allow (some) other NatWest customers to withdraw until the 4th day. That would make such a complete nonsense of the word "available".

So are we some sort of "special case"? I can't see why that would be. Because we've banked there so long with a relatively modest authorised overdraft limit which has never been used that we're regarded as worthy of the risk of running up a significant unauthorised overdraft should a large cheque bounce? Being a risk NatWest are so keen to take that their computers are specifically (re)programmed to let us have "available" funds 2 days earlier than (some) other NatWest customers - although we've never asked for such "special treatment"?

Seems unlikely to me (curly-tailed pink flying objects spring to mind) .... so I'm back to my initial assumption that "available" for withdrawal after 2 working days is NatWest's standard practice, even if it isn't the practice of other high street banks and even if it isn't specified in NatWest's T&Cs.

charlieboycat

rb10 wrote: »

Firstly, it seems that they can delay the whole process by one day if they like, or two days if you pay in anywhere other than the 'branch where you have your account'.

So this day (up to two days after you actually paid in the cheque) is the date that it is added to your balance.

FWIW, my experience of NatWest (ignoring bank holidays) is:

- pay in a cheque drawn on any bank or buiding society at any NatWest branch at any time on a Monday.

- from early morning (2 am ??) on the Tuesday it becomes visible online but is dated for the Monday (and subsequently appears on printed satements dated for the Monday).

- on the Tuesday it is included in the "balance" but not included in the "available balance".

- from early am (2 am ??) on the Wednesday it becomes included in the "available balance" and is available for immediate transfer or withdrawal.

- same 2-working-days timetable for cheques paid in on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Friday.

- same principle with regard to 2-working-days if paid in on a Thursday (ie. "available" on Monday) with the rinky-dink that it shows up online as "available" on the Saturday (a non-working day). In this case any transfer to eSavings or BACS withdrawal made on Saturday or Sunday will initially show up online immediately but will subsequently be redated for the Monday (and if BACS rather than FP will only arrive at its destination on Wednesday).

Mikeyorks

Very curious. Perhaps I should go back to an earlier post where I suggested they put some cheques in a 'draw' for early funding! As it does appear (from other threads, over a period) to be very random.

I've got a lot of experience working with Nat West .... but all with high volume business accounts, so it's not relevant to personal cheques. Except (daily throughput in the hundreds of £Ms) .... we certainly didn't get value outside of the standard clearance cycle.

The T&Cs rb10 linked to .... merely indicate they adhere to the standard 2-4-6 scenario? If they really intended the 'no later than' to be significantly utilised (even their premium accounts don't indicate so) .... you would think they would advertise to that effect. and they don't appear to do so.

Ah well. Perhaps some mystique does us good!