Payments taken 4 weeks later?

Joe_Bloggs

If the future payment date of payments in are to be indeterminate then perhaps there should be a right of sweep. That is sweep money from savings accounts within the same banking institution so that it can be used to offset unexpected current account demands.

The banks have a a right to offset so why not the account holders a right to sweep!
J_B. th

Mikeyorks

Makes the dramatic assumption that everyone with a current account - has a Savings account within the same portfolio.

What's wrong with simply managing the current account yourself? And having an agreed overdraft if you think you might be caught short. The right of offset is only used after warnings ..... raiding someones Saving account at whim would create a whole new series of whinges.

LeeSouthEast

Going a little off-topic now, but Barclays used to do a sweep account. My mum still has it, but I don't believe they offer it anymore to new customers.

I have an interest free overdraft up to £250 that covers any budgeting/recording errors on my part, and a further £1,250 beyond that just in case. Since my epiphany and record keeping mission in January, I've never used either.

All it takes is to (a) spend less than you earn, and (b) know what you have, versus what is due to come out (at some indeterminate point in the next 6 years but hopefully somewhat sooner!).

Joe_Bloggs

@Mikeyorks
Given the advent of faster payments it would not matter where you had your savings. If the right of sweep existed.

Perhaps a judge can decide on a right to sweep ?

Unfortunately, in my opinion, this may require the council of a legal expert thus the access of common law is beyond the scope of most of the population.
J_B.

Mikeyorks

Joe_Bloggs wrote: »

@Mikeyorks
Given the advent of faster payments it would not matter where you had your savings. If the right of sweep existed.

Perhaps a judge can decide on a right to sweep ?

It wouldn't need a Judge .. more like a magician. You can't initiate a FP from other than the source account. You have to blow ..... you can't suck!

trynsave

A couple of years ago I had a transaction which took weeks to debit. Due to being extra vigilent, as money was really tight, I knew that it was still outstanding so didn't spend the money again. It was a real pain though!

Nowadays I purchase everything possible on my Tesco credit card for two reasons;
1) to increase the number of points I receive, and
2) to ensure that I don't spend what is already accounted for and get charged as a result.

I 'sweep' money from my c/a to my credit card whenever I make a purchase so my cc rarely has a negative balance and the money gets debited from my c/a at the rate I spend it. Therefore if my c/a has money in it I can spend more, if it hasn't then I can't. Occasionally this means that my credit card account is carrying a credit balance until the transaction debits, but I rather it that way than risk my bank charging an OD fee.

Works for me!

eschaton

acl25 wrote: »

Ok firstly!

I know how to manage my money!

As others have said - you quite clearly don't.

Maybe you will learn from your mistakes in future.

Joe_Bloggs

I am earning nothing on my current account balance hence if any transaction forces me to maintain a positive balance waiting for an event that may or may not occur then I am losing money that I could have made in an account elsewhere.
Were I not to maintain the amount then I could face punitive overdraft charges and subsequent charges that spiral away.
J_B.
My suggested law of sweep back would never be allowed as it would minimise bank charges.
J_B.

Neota

I do sympathise with this situation as I am awful at managing my money and there has been a couple of times where I have had a d/d or card transaction go out when I wasn't expecting it. I think it's unusual for them to have taken each payment individually (if I ordered 4 DVDs from Amazon I would expect them to treat it as one payment) and therefore your bank are charging you for each item - maybe if it was just £30 it wouldn't be so hard to comprehend but if I was being charged £120 bank charges that would seriously knock my finances out of kilter as I only earn about 4 times that a month. Bank charges are ridiculously expensive these days (though that's another discussion) and again if it was just £5 or £10 per item it would be slightly more managable.

However, it is your responsibility to keep on top of your finances and know what has been spent and what hasn't. I recommend doing what my mum does (and I should probably do) - have a teeny little notebook in your handbag with your bank balance on, each time you get paid or have money going in, add it on and minus the month's direct debits so you know they're out the way. Each time you draw cash out, pay for something on your card or order something online, minus it from the total. Work on your balance from your notebook not from atm balance checks/online banking/telephone banking. Much more reliable and you know exactly where you stand. If a company doesn't take money out of your account wiithin a certain amount of time, you know about it and can chase it up - even better!

I should take my own advice really. I think I'll do it next month!

Extant

Joe_Bloggs wrote: »

My suggested law of sweep back would never be allowed as it would minimise bank charges.
J_B.

If I have read this correctly, your suggeste "law of sweep" would allow one institution to collect money from another to set off any debt they held. Basically, the current right of set off applied to any and all bank accounts held.

Do you seriously think such a law is improbable because it would reduce bank charges, as opposed to being a gross invasion of privacy and allowing several companies huge and unprecedented amounts of power?