Santander and clearing a cheque

camperdown9

Hi

I will try and keep this simple.

Every month I receive a cheque from my husband who banks with Barclays. If I pay this into a Natwest current account on a Tuesday then I have access to the money on Thursday. If I pay it into a Santander 123 account on a Tuesday, I can't use the funds until the following Monday.

Is there a chart or someway of knowing how long it takes each bank to process a cheque?

The Santander 123 account just about works for me in the sense that the cash back on direct debits cover the £2 fee. As I currently have yearly travel insurance thats due to expire soon, mobile phone insurance and a small credit balance. I am thinking of leaving Santander and going with the Nationwide FlexPlus the £10 fee they charge would be less than both the insurances. Nationwide also have a branch in the town close to my house were as Santander don't. However in real life I would like to know how long it takes them to clear a cheque.

Thanks

Alex

anselld

Can't you persuade him to pay by standing order which would be cleared instantly?
Regardless of which bank, cheques can still bounce until the 6th working day.

BMN

Banks usually follow the standard 2-4-6 cheque clearing process.
This is what Santander are doing.
Tuesday is counted as day 0.
Thursday is day 2 and is when you start earning interest on the money.
Because Saturday and Sunday aren't working days, Monday is counted as day 4 when the amount becomes available to withdraw

This may help you: http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/cheque_and_credit_clearing/cheque_checker/

camperdown9

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately not, as the amount the cheque is made out to varies slightly each month. (There is always something but it might be that I pay for the vet or the gardner during the month and then at the end of the month my husband add this onto my allowance)

I tried to get him to at least try internet banking as it would be easily for him to transfer the money from his account into mine and it would be cleared funds. But no.

Whats currently happening is he give me a cheque I then either drive to my closest Santander which is not that far away but just not somewhere I would usually walk past. Pay that in and wait the 5 full days for it to clear. Or I pay it into an old Natwest currently account wait till not the next day but the following and then move the money to Santander via online banking.

bet you wish you hadn't asked now!

camperdown9

BMN wrote: »

Banks usually follow the standard 2-4-6 cheque clearing process.
This is what Santander are doing.
Tuesday is counted as day 0.
Thursday is day 2 and is when you start earning interest on the money.
Because Saturday and Sunday aren't working days, Monday is counted as day 4 when the amount becomes available to withdraw

Thanks for your reply.

Are Natwest then much quicker than other banks at cleaning cheques? Paid in on day 0 and cleared funds by day 2.

innovate

As has already been mentioned, cheques can bounce until they have cleared. This is the same at any bank.
Natwest isn't any faster in clearing than any of the others as far as I can see: http://www.natwest.com/personal/current-accounts/g4/cheques/clearing.ashx

camperdown9

innovate wrote: »

As has already been mentioned, cheques can bounce until they have cleared. This is the same at any bank.
Natwest isn't any faster in clearing than any of the others as far as I can see:

Hi

Thank you for your reply. I am however more confused than ever.

With Natwest this is whats happening at least to me.

Example

Sunday
Current account balance £100.
Available funds £850 (balance + £750 overdraft fac)

Monday
I pay in £500 by cheque
Current account balance shows as £100
Available funds £850 (balance + £750 overdraft fac)
-No record of the cheque shows to the next day.

Tuesday
Current account balance shows as £600
Available funds £850 (balance + £750 overdraft fac)
So balance excluding the cheque.

Wednesday
Current account balance shows as £600
Available funds £1350 (balance + £750 overdraft fac)

So ok the cheque may not of cleared by Wednesday but I have access to the funds on Wednesday. I guess if it bounces I would end up covering the cost of the cheque.

Do other banks work like this??


Alex

innovate

camperdown9 wrote: »

Do other banks work like this??

Clearance takes the same amount of time at all major banks and building societies.


A quick glance at the Santander and Nationwide sites suggest they do it exactly the same way as Natwest.

http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/StaticBS?blobcol=urldata&blobheadername1=content-type&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadername3=appID&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobheadervalue2=inline%3Bfilename%3DBANK0457FEB11T+pdf+-+User+Guide+28th+Feb.pdf&blobheadervalue3=abbey.internet.Abbeycom&blobkey=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1314010567182&maxage=3600

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/ChequeProcessingCalendar/ChequeProcessingCalendar.aspx

You can look up how other banks do it - - they all publish this on their websites.

rb10

camperdown9 wrote: »

Unfortunately not, as the amount the cheque is made out to varies slightly each month. (There is always something but it might be that I pay for the vet or the gardner during the month and then at the end of the month my husband add this onto my allowance)

I tried to get him to at least try internet banking as it would be easily for him to transfer the money from his account into mine and it would be cleared funds. But no.

Or he could use telephone banking?

Much cheaper and quicker than driving into town to pay in a cheque!

daveyjp

Santander current balance will include the cheque amount immediately. Available balance will be updated once the cheque funds are available.

Lansdowne

Or he could set up a standing order for a fixed amount then you sort out the variable balance by cheque or cash.