Bank Cheques Clearance Time

Mikeyorks

hansi wrote:

I beg to differ. Smile show a "balance" and an "available balance". On the Friday the amount paid in on the Thursday was shown as deposited but not available. On the Saturday.it was in my "available" balance. So it is cleared!

Sounds fairly clear cut and I understand why it makes you think that way. But I really can't see why Smile are allowing you to draw funds that simply cannot be cleared. Rather than repeat what I've already said - I'll let this extract from the Smile website, on the subject of cheque clearance times, talk for me :-

How long does it take to clear?

cash paid in at a Co-operative Bank branch is available immediately if you use your card or by the end of the day if you use a slip
for cheques, including those paid in at a Co-operative Bank branch you should allow up to 5 working days for the money to be available
for cheques posted, you should allow up to 5 working days from the day the cheque is paid into your account for the money to be available
for cheques paid in at a UK Post Office you should allow up to 6 working days for the money to be available.
Add one additional working day to the above timescales for cheques drawn on or paid into a Scottish/Northern Ireland Bank. The central clearing cycle in England and Wales takes 3 working days. All timescales are subject to the transactions being made within the working day cut off time.

Mikeyorks

ejones999 wrote:

Just give people your sort code and account number and let them credit you using internet banking or BACS.

...... then you can go onto one of the other threads and argue why it isn't 'instant' !!;)

Jamielad

I work for a small company who pay by cheque. As my branch is the same branch as theirs, cheques I pay in (at that branch only, doesn't work at other branches) clear and are available the next day. As my account doesn't allow overdrafts these cheques are actually clearing, I'm not allowed to draw on uncleared funds.

hansi

PBA wrote:

NO, it's not! Smile may be letting you draw against the cheque after 2 days, but it will still be in the clearing system. The cheque could still be returned unpaid after that. Available does not mean the same as cleared, although many people assume that it does.

so how come Smile told me that it was cleared, and that I could draw against it, and why don't they have a "cleared" category on the account in that case?

Paul_Herring

so how come Smile told me that it was cleared,

More like an employee, who saw that you could withdraw money against the cheque, got confused and told you that it was cleared, when in fact Smile were allowing you to draw against uncleared funds.

Mikeyorks

Jamielad wrote:

I work for a small company who pay by cheque.

Any Bank, with very little prodding, will give you instant funds on a salary cheque paid into one of their Branches. But they'll probably prod back a bit .. to get you to try and get your employer into the 20th century;)

Jamielad

Mikeyorks wrote:

Any Bank, with very little prodding, will give you instant funds on a salary cheque paid into one of their Branches. But they'll probably prod back a bit .. to get you to try and get your employer into the 20th century;)

I don't think their staff would have the time to prod...they're too busy asking each and every customer "Would you like an ISA/insurance/savings account/credit card...?" :rotfl: