Why doesn't internet banking work over bank holidays?

agrinnall

To answer your question, it doesn't work because the banking system has processes that date back several centuries and computer systems designed in the 1960's and 1970's to support those processes, and unless they are confident that their customers will pay higher charges to offset the cost of changing those systems to work closer to 24x7 then internet banking has to fall in line with what's already there.

So a question back at you: what additional charges are you prepared to pay in order to get a better service?

prowla

agrinnall wrote: »

To answer your question, it doesn't work because the banking system has processes that date back several centuries and computer systems designed in the 1960's and 1970's to support those processes, and unless they are confident that their customers will pay higher charges to offset the cost of changing those systems to work closer to 24x7 then internet banking has to fall in line with what's already there.

So a question back at you: what additional charges are you prepared to pay in order to get a better service?

Not really - they've put in the fast transfer system since the 60s/70s...

And online trading.

And online banking itself.

And ATMs.

And credit cards.

And phasing out of cheques.

etc.

John259

Whether inter-bank transfers are made at weekends and on bank holidays is very variable, depending on the two organisations involved, the type of transaction and possibly the amount.

For example, I get monthly interest payments from a Tesco Bank fixed term paid into my Co-op Bank current account even on a Sunday - but this is unusual.

Intra-bank transfers usually occur immediately at all times, even between the accounts of different customers, except during periods of planned maintenance or unplanned outages.

mgdavid

I have to ask the OP why you are worried about this in the first place? Surely your 'letting agency' is a business and there won't be anyone looking for your payment until Tuesday at the earliest.

Steve059

Simply because, behind your computer, the internet and all the bank's technology, lurks a system that would not be unfamiliar to someone in a 17th century coffee house.

Gentoo365

The timing of transactions is written in statute.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2009/209/pdfs/uksi_20090209_en.pdf

(1) Subject to paragraphs (2), (3) and (4), the payer’s payment service provider must ensure that the amount of the payment transaction is credited to the payee’s payment service provider’s account by the end of the business day following the time of receipt of the payment order.

and

The payee’s payment service provider must ensure that the amount of the payment transaction is at the payee’s disposal immediately after that amount has been credited to that payment service provider’s account.

As your bank cannot guarantee that the receiver of the funds will have access to them before next Tuesday it cannot send them.

The other issue is that they would be liable for any fraud that occurs and (probably) don't have the staff in to deal with the fraud alerts.

Note that the bank could arrange to be connected to a system whereby the payment is sent with confirmation that the person receiving it has it 'at their disposal', but it seems your bank does not offer this service on non-business days.

agrinnall

prowla wrote: »

Not really - they've put in the fast transfer system since the 60s/70s...

And online trading.

And online banking itself.

And ATMs.

And credit cards.

And phasing out of cheques.

etc.

Yes of course they have, and I've worked on developing many of those systems, but the fact remains that they must tie up with the core banking systems that were designed over 40 years ago, and until the banks feel able to make the massive investment required to drag core banking into the 21st century we are to a large degree stuck with the timings we have now.

And cheques are not being phased out (although they probably should be).

http://www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/media_centre/press_releases/-/page/1575/

Thrugelmir

bohomiz wrote: »

My rent is due on 21 of each month, but unfortunately I had internet connection problems since Monday and only managed to get online last night.

Why didn't you make other arrangements to pay?

This to me is ludicrous, but there must be some red tape/job's worth explanation as to why it is like this,

Ditto above. Don't blame others for your own failings.

BMN

agrinnall wrote: »

Yes of course they have, and I've worked on developing many of those systems, but the fact remains that they must tie up with the core banking systems that were designed over 40 years ago, and until the banks feel able to make the massive investment required to drag core banking into the 21st century we are to a large degree stuck with the timings we have now.

And cheques are not being phased out (although they probably should be).

http://www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/media_centre/press_releases/-/page/1575/

Out of curiosity precisely what isn't 21st century about bank IT systems and why is this a bad thing?

Most of my banking is 24/7 to be honest.
It's only things like BACS Direct Credits, Direct Debits and Standing Orders which only operate on working days. And it is my understanding that this is because they are processed in batches and also perhaps as a convention from the past - Standing Orders go by Faster Payments and technically have the capability of being sent 7 days a week.
Oh and then there's anything else outside office hours which might require a real person who only works office hours.

Cheques are comparatively more expensive to process, more susceptible as a vector for fraud and just less convenient than other methods. So they actually are indirectly being phased out.
For example, your bank might not give you a cheque book unless you specifically request it, if they do I bet it contains less cheques than it would have done in the past, there is a huge focus on internet banking.

agrinnall

BMN wrote: »

Out of curiosity precisely what isn't 21st century about bank IT systems and why is this a bad thing?

Most of my banking is 24/7 to be honest.
It's only things like BACS Direct Credits, Direct Debits and Standing Orders which only operate on working days. And it is my understanding that this is because they are processed in batches and also perhaps as a convention from the past - Standing Orders go by Faster Payments and technically have the capability of being sent 7 days a week.
Oh and then there's anything else outside office hours which might require a real person who only works office hours.

Cheques are comparatively more expensive to process, more susceptible as a vector for fraud and just less convenient than other methods. So they actually are indirectly being phased out.
For example, your bank might not give you a cheque book unless you specifically request it, if they do I bet it contains less cheques than it would have done in the past, there is a huge focus on internet banking.

The things you mention may be the systems visible to you that are operating working days only, but there are a lot more behind the scenes. All those systems that are working 24x7 still reply on the working day overnight batch processing to fully update all the balances, apply interest (miniscule as it is these days), produce statements, etc., etc. To make everything operate in real time would be a huge investment and I can't see the banks funding it at the moment.

Of course, a big issue is that 40 year old systems need people who understand them to keep them running, and those people are gradually retiring or leaving the industry to do something less stressful (like me), and people coming into IT have little interest in learning Cobol or Assembler. So a tipping point may well come where the cost of supporting critical systems is less than the cost of replacing them, so maybe it will happen whatever the cost.