direct debits going out early but dated correctly grrr!!

MarkyMarkD

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

So, in the example I gave in post #9, my Nationwide=>Yorkshire Bank (and also other transfers in from Egg/Halifax/A&L/et al) was done as a BACS Direct Credit? Because, as I've already said, these transactions DO seem to be "pre-notified" being as I can 'see' Monday's transactions (and their impact on my available balance) on Friday evening.

I've just been taking a look around the BACS site and I'm struggling to grasp the fundamental difference between BACS transfers (as we know them on here) and BACS Direct Credits...other than the latter is what is used for salary/pension payments from 'organisations'.

BACS transfers suffer from the clearing cycle delay - the payer is debited on day 1 and the recipient is credited on day 3. Direct credits are like direct debits, in that both payer and recipient accounts are debited/credited on the same day. But in order to achieve this, the "tape" has to be submitted a reasonable time in advance.

Mikeyorks

No problem with what has been said about DDs being 'reserved'. But it's inconsistent.
I checked my Halifax (High Interest) current a/c around 2200hrs last night (Sun). It's fairly rare I do other than glance at the 'available' figure. But did so last night and aggregated it back (2 Debit Card payments from the afternoon) to the running balance showing on the account - to the penny.
This morning there are 2 x DDs reflected on the account and totalling close to £150. Which were positively not, last night, showing as 'unavailable' funds!

Which leaves me puzzled (as earlier posts on this thread) whether that is simply the fact Halifax runs Batch on a Sunday night - and somehow manage to separate out the incoming DDs from Friday night. Or, less likely, the fact that I have an untouched but agreed o/d on the account - which is a factor of 10 greater than the total of the DDs?

YorkshireBoy

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

Direct credits are like direct debits, in that both payer and recipient accounts are debited/credited on the same day.

Thanks MMD, that's the "fundamental" difference I couldn't see/find/grasp.

Mikeyorks wrote:

Which leaves me puzzled (as earlier posts on this thread) whether that is simply the fact Halifax runs Batch on a Sunday night - and somehow manage to separate out the incoming DDs from Friday night. Or, less likely, the fact that I have an untouched but agreed o/d on the account - which is a factor of 10 greater than the total of the DDs?

I, like you, think the former is most likely Mike.

dunstonh

Which leaves me puzzled (as earlier posts on this thread) whether that is simply the fact Halifax runs Batch on a Sunday night - and somehow manage to separate out the incoming DDs from Friday night. Or, less likely, the fact that I have an untouched but agreed o/d on the account - which is a factor of 10 greater than the total of the DDs?

debit cards are earmarked at point of sale. so that explains why they show. The fact the D/Ds dont show suggests that Halifax's system is not quite as up-to-date as the others or that Halifax dont run their batch until late Sunday. The "old" building societies often had obsolete systems and you couldnt apply traditional banking clearing cycle and methods to them. I think they are improving but it shows that its not quite there yet with some.

Homework

HBOS used to always reserve a Monday payment on the weekend so even though there was money due on the Monday I couldn't use that money to pay the payments. This would leave us short over the weekend even though the bank were at the same time holding a credit to be paid in on the Monday. No overdraft facility so just had to put up with it.

Clydesdale on the other hand earmark the Monday payment on a Friday night BUT also pay any payment due on Monday into the account on a Friday night too.

I really objected to the money being unavailable with HBOS but as Clydesdale pay any money coming into the account at the same time I have no objections as I feel it is playing fair.

MarkyMarkD

It's not a matter of "playing fair" or not. If your account's terms and conditions require you to fund the account a day before a transaction is paid, that's fine - it's the terms and conditions which you agree to.

If you don't like them, change bank.

But few banks operate differently.

dunstonh

It's not a matter of "playing fair" or not. If your account's terms and conditions require you to fund the account a day before a transaction is paid, that's fine - it's the terms and conditions which you agree to.

And we have to remember that Saturday and Sunday are not working days and you have to consider them to be bulked in with Monday. So, if a transaction going through Monday is earmarked on Saturday then that is fair as the money should have been in the account Friday.

I'm surprised HSBC didnt show a direct credit as being available but it is possible that it wasnt a direct credit but a bank giro credit. It is also possible that they run multiple batches over the weekend and the transaction may appear later in the weekend than the direct debits.