Electronic Bank Transfers (New Campaign)

buzzby

Hi

How come when a elctronic transfer is made from one bank account to another it still takes 3-5 days to clear.
I mean my sister transfered some money from her account (Natwest) to mine (Abbey).
Now the money has gone from her account, but is not in mine. So what is it doing in the 3-5 days.
The only thing I can think of is that the bank is still making money on it.
With al this technology we have surely a transfer like this should be instant.
Or is it a case of the bank making millions out of us by doing this.

I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

Chris

kavomix

The Banks are working on a new fast payment system for payments made over the internet. The payments will be same day transfers. This system was due to be launched in Autumn 2007, but has been delayed and will be out in the later half of 2008. I'm not going to get involved in the whole 3 day transfer process, mainly because the reason its so slow is due to the BAC's system being old.

gt94sss2

The BACS payment system uses the same system as for cheques - hence the delay.

As has been said, the banks are introducing a new system from May 2008, which will mean that transfers will happen the same day.

Also, even though the money looks like it has gone from your account, some banks continue to pay interest on it for another couple of days.

Regards
Sunil