Barclays Instant Cheque Access (Business Account?)

mrjam

Hi All

I run my own small business and have had a Barclays business account for around 12 months now, always in good standing, no credit facilities, and around £80,000 turnover in the initial year.

Due to my own paranoia when it comes to having my cards used fraudulently, i always leave the balance of the account in a seperate barclays savings (as advised by Barclays was absolutely fine) so the current balance of the business current account is £0.00 with a balance on the savings account of £23,950.

Now, here's the question. When i originally opened the business account my business advisor in barclays told me that they operate an "Instant Access" on cheques which means you can draw upto £1,000 against the value of the cheque the same day it's paid in, obviously you agree that if the cheque subsequently doesnt clear then they recoup the funds from you, which is all fine and dandy.

Anyway, i paid a £5,500 cheque into the current account yesterday, it shows on the "Balance" as £5,500 but on the "Cleared Funds" it says "£0.00". I thought i'd test out Barclays word and try withdrawing £10 from the account, low and behold "Insufficient Funds For This Transaction". Now, it's not a huge problem, but all over the internet they advertise their greatness at "Instant Cheque Access" and yet this feature doesnt seem to actually work, and was infact a prerequisite of me signing up with Barclays over other high street banks for my business account.

Does anyone have any experience with this, from their website it looks like it's only personal accounts that have this feature, but i was actively sold it as a feature when in discussions which i have to admit does leave me with a bitter taste in my mouth as it seems no matter what happens with banks, they always have your leg over somehow.

Regards

CLAPTON

I'm sure it's subject to 'status' & conditions so I would suggest to discuss it with them

and I think it most unwise to just try it before specifically checking with them

jonesMUFCforever

IMO the immediate clearance on cheques only relates to personal accounts.

mrjam

CLAPTON wrote: »

I'm sure it's subject to 'status' & conditions so I would suggest to discuss it with them

and I think it most unwise to just try it before specifically checking with them

With respect, if you care to read the original post in full, i quite clearly stated that our business manager at Barclays insisted this was a feature of our account when opening a business account with them. How would we know whether it works or not without trying it? As jonesMUFC stated, i believe from the documentation on the Barclays website that this is a feature specifically relating to personal accounts, which begs the question why were we sold this as a feature when in discussions to open said account.

CLAPTON

mrjam wrote: »

With respect, if you care to read the original post in full, i quite clearly stated that our business manager at Barclays insisted this was a feature of our account when opening a business account with them. How would we know whether it works or not without trying it? As jonesMUFC stated, i believe from the documentation on the Barclays website that this is a feature specifically relating to personal accounts, which begs the question why were we sold this as a feature when in discussions to open said account.

with respect, if it's not in the T&Cs or otherwise documented then it's probably not a feature
and, if you read my post I said that it would likely to be subject to status (as the feature is on personal a/cs) so would still need checking

2sides2everystory

It is probably something that once worked but has been unilaterally stopped without you being told by someone who doesn't know you from Adam.

Speak to your current local business banking person - they may be able to (re-)activate something during their tenure "subject to status" as CLAPTON suggested. Depends a lot on the drifting sands of empowerment at the sharp end from time to time I imagine.

It wouldn't be an immediate clearance facility, merely an agreed arrangement that you could draw down funds at your own risk up to a set limit if the cheque bounced later - I am not sure if it would be a counter only service at your own branch or if they could allow ATM withdrawals on the same basis.

NorthernStudent

IIRC, for this to happen, it needs to have a manual override by a cashier at the counter in the bank. As far as I know, they will check your account over (or call your business manager) and then if its A-OK, give you the cash.