moving money between accounts.

G_M

I know about the old fashioned 'BACS' method.
And I know about the new kid on the block: 'Faster Payments'.
Not to mention the costly 'CHAPS' transfer.

But I've never heard of a 'bank transfer'. I thought this was a generic term.

Apparantly not - can anyone enlighten?

(the background is that when querying Sainsburys Bank about the timescales of their .. errrr.. 'transfers' I asked what method they use and was told:

"we do not offer faster payment service so we cannot guarantee the money will be available within 2 hours..... our transactions are processed via bank transfer. ... ... If you send money from your account before 5pm on a business day, the funds will arrive in the external account on the same day.")

Norscbu

aiui, "faster payment" is a bank transfer between two banks participating in the faster payment scheme... if one does not, it's simply a bank transfer.

G_M

Norscbu wrote: »

aiui, "faster payment" is a bank transfer between two banks participating in the faster payment scheme... if one does not, it's simply a bank transfer.

done using what process? BACS? Is a 'bank transfer' a system, and if so how does it work and to what timescales?

agrinnall

Don't get hung up by terminology. There are now only two transfer methods for personal customers, Faster Payments or CHAPS. While BACS still exists as a payment method it is generally only available for business customers who have signed up (and usually paid for) BACS Direct Credits.

Faster Payments - free to use, has limits on the amount that can be transferred (they vary from bank to bank), the money can be at the destination in seconds, most will be there within 2 hours, legal requirement is for it to arrive by the end of the following business day. Some Financial Institutions who are not full members of Faster Payments may only do transfers overnight, while full members will attempt to do them in real time.

CHAPS - unlimited amounts, guaranteed delivery by end of day if initiated before cut off time, always incurs a charge (usually at least £20).


PS What you were told by Sainsburys is nonsense, the method they describe is clearly Faster Payments. I think you just got an idiot when you called them.

G_M

That's what I thought but I wanted a 2nd (or 3rd) opinion before going back and accusing Sainsburys of being an idiot!

agrinnall

G_M wrote: »

That's what I thought but I wanted a 2nd (or 3rd) opinion before going back and accusing Sainsburys of being an idiot!

Well hopefully you will get somebody who understands next time you call so you won't need to accuse them (correctly) of idiocy - you could always call round with a cake .

eskbanker

Their FAQ is consistent with what you were told about expected timescales:

If you send money from your account before 5pm on a business day, the funds will arrive in the external account on the same day. If it's after 5pm, it will arrive on the next business day.

so regardless of what label is given to the process, this is what you should measure them against.

G_M

agrinnall wrote: »

Well hopefully you will get somebody who understands next time you call so you won't need to accuse them (correctly) of idiocy - you could always call round with a cake .

Now that's a good idea - why didn't I think of that! Though it's all been in online messaging.

so regardless of what label is given to the process, this is what you should measure them against.

Fair enough, though I'm still intrigued to understand the baking process.

edit - oops, not enough cake - that should have read 'banking'.

agrinnall

eskbanker wrote: »

Their FAQ is consistent with what you were told about expected timescales:so regardless of what label is given to the process, this is what you should measure them against.

Sainsburys can say that but they certainly can't guarantee that funds will arrive in the external account on the same day, that's entirely down to what the receiving bank does with incoming Faster Payments. While most will post them soon after arrival some will post overnight and some may even wait until the next day.