Clearing in 5 working days - terminology

neilsolaris

Hi,

I'm having a difference of opinion about what "5 working days to clear" actually means in practice. For instance, I paid a cheque into our Santander current account on Monday, and the cashier told me it would take 5 working days to clear. Naturally I counted Tuesday as day 1, so therefore inferred that it will clear on Monday. My partner was adamant that I should count Monday as day 1, and that it will clear on Friday. Who is correct?

Thanks!

colsten

Table on page 9 of https://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

But also read page 8.

grumbler

Instead of guessing simply check the website. Your partner is right:
Current Accounts User Guide - Santander
Page 9.

neilsolaris

Thanks for the link. The word "cleared" that the cashier used was not technically accurate, but it seems to be commonly used to mean available for withdrawal (even if not yet guaranteed).

But according to page 8, the cashier was wrong, unless I'm missing something. It states it "clears" in 4 days time, not 5, meaning if I pay a cheque in on Monday it is available for withdrawal on Friday. Therefore, I think I was correct in my interpretation of the terminology.

Thanks again.

gt94sss2

The day you pay your cheque in is counted as Day 0

http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/cheque_and_credit_clearing/cheque_checker/

Regards
Sunil

neilsolaris

Thanks Sunil, that's what I thought, and it makes logical sense to me. By the way, I wasn't the least bit concerned about having access to my money. I just wanted to win the argument with my partner!

grumbler

neilsolaris wrote: »

...that's what I thought, and it makes logical sense to me.

Doesn't make much sense to me.
If it counts as Day 0, then it takes 4 days.
If it counts as Day 1, then it takes 5 days - like the cashier said.

Whatever way you chose to calculate, money is available to withdraw on Friday if the cheque is deposited on Monday.

By the way, I wasn't the least bit concerned about having access to my money. I just wanted to win the argument with my partner!

Naturally I counted Tuesday as day 1, so therefore inferred that it will clear on Monday. My partner was adamant that I should count Monday as day 1, and that it will clear on Friday.

Therefore, I think I was correct in my interpretation of the terminology.

How come?

neilsolaris

Here's my thinking Grumbler.

I asserted that if I pay a cheque in on a Monday, if it takes 5 working days to clear, then it clears in Monday, a week's time. Here's a table to clarify it.

Day 0 (Monday) pay in cheque
Day 1 (Tuesday)
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Day 3 (Thursday)
Day 4 (Friday)
Day 5 (Monday) cheque "clears"

The amount of days that Santander take is incidental, I just wanted to establish if you count the day you pay the cheque in as zero or one. Now I know!

Anthorn

So why does the time taken to clear a cheque matter?

neilsolaris

Is that question directed at me Anthorn?

To me, it doesn't matter in the slightest, as long as it doesn't take more than a couple of weeks.

henm2

http://www.chequeandcredit.co.uk/cheque_and_credit_clearing/the_cheque_clearing_cycle/
describes the process for when a cheque is cleared and fully paid and also for when a cheque 'bounces'.