Why cannot bank transfers be made on Saturday's

nilrem_2

Why is it that in these days of online banking we cannot make transfers to another account unless it's a weekday?

I suppose I know the answer really; it's in the interest of banks not their customers!
Surely when I transfer money from my Natwest account to my Northern Rock account it's all done by computers so why can it not be done on a Saturday?

To make a transfer today the earliest it will proceed is Monday the 30th yet my account will be debited the amount today!

In my case it does not actually matter, I am moving funds because my Natwest esaver bonus is ending so Monday is fine but I still think it's an anachronism from pre computer banking that it suits the banks to preserve.

Anyone have any views on the subject?

atush

It all depends on who you bank with. I can transfer online on sat and Sun with HSBC.

agrinnall

What makes you think you can't do a transfer today? While the final reconciliations won't take place until Monday evening the money will leave your Natwest account and be in your NR account today.

Taken from http://www.natwest.com/microsites/personal/faster_payments_service/faster_payments_faq.asp

How long will it take for a Faster Payment to go from one Bank to another?


The system enables you to use the branch, internet or telephone to make a payment that will reach the beneficiary bank account within a few hours. For internet and telephone service this service is available all day every day and means that you have the convenience of moving money between accounts within a few hours of initiating the payment, seven days a week. In branches the service is available during branch opening hours.
The new system also speeds up Standing Order payments – money moves from your account on the due date and arrives at the beneficiary’s account on the same day.

Edit: The reason may be that you want to transfer more than the FPS value limit, which for NatWest is still £10K, see http://www.ukpayments.org.uk/faster_payments_service/value_limits/. Anything above that has to go by CHAPS which is a Monday - Friday system (and you'll probably have to pay a fee to use it).

nilrem_2

agrinnall wrote: »

What makes you think you can't do a transfer today? While the final reconciliations won't take place until Monday evening the money will leave your Natwest account and be in your NR account today.

Taken from http://www.natwest.com/microsites/personal/faster_payments_service/faster_payments_faq.asp

How long will it take for a Faster Payment to go from one Bank to another?


The system enables you to use the branch, internet or telephone to make a payment that will reach the beneficiary bank account within a few hours. For internet and telephone service this service is available all day every day and means that you have the convenience of moving money between accounts within a few hours of initiating the payment, seven days a week. In branches the service is available during branch opening hours.
The new system also speeds up Standing Order payments – money moves from your account on the due date and arrives at the beneficiary’s account on the same day.

Ah well I may be wrong, Thanks for the info I had not seen that! whenever I try to transfer on-line it won't let me select a weekend date an defaults to a weekday, in this case Monday 30th.

nilrem_2

agrinnall wrote: »

Edit: The reason may be that you want to transfer more than the FPS value limit, which for NatWest is still £10K, see http://www.ukpayments.org.uk/faster_payments_service/value_limits/. Anything above that has to go by CHAPS which is a Monday - Friday system (and you'll probably have to pay a fee to use it).

No I am aware of the 10k limit but as I saw the 30th I did not proceed with the transfer, I will try moving a small amount later to see how it goes.

Harry_Flashman

I can transfer money during the weekend - Lloyd TSB.

noh

nilrem wrote: »

No I am aware of the 10k limit but as I saw the 30th I did not proceed with the transfer, I will try moving a small amount later to see how it goes.

Thats Natwests online system. The transfer will take place immediately as long as the receiving account is FP enabled.

nilrem_2

OK well let's see how it goes, I have transferred an amount, on the page it came up with the 30th I changed it to today's date but it 'spat' that out and reverted to the 30th.

I went ahead with the transfer and as folks here say it stated that the amount would be transferred today.

I will confirm later.

Thanks for the advice.

pqrdef

nilrem wrote: »

I went ahead with the transfer and as folks here say it stated that the amount would be transferred today.

And so it probably will, but the receiving end will probably date it Monday.

If the money had gone to a current account, you'd probably be able to spend it today. But whether you'll get any interest before Monday is a different question (and not an easy one to find the answer to).

psychic_teabag

With NatWest, money transferred at the weekend is considered part of Monday's limit. So after 6pm Friday you can only transfer a total of £10k before 6pm Monday.

dunstonh

Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays are not clearing days. So, whilst internal transactions may be dealt with, external ones may not. Some transactions going through on the monday will appear over the weekend but will show mondays date even though its Saturday.