bounced cheque; cleared balance v. available balance

p1an0player

I paid off a Sky card balance completely by balance transfer, waited for this to show on my Sky card account online, and then issued a promo Sky card cheque and paid that into a savings account.

The cheque bounced, because my available balance on the Sky card had not updated immediately the balance transfer was posted on the account.

Sky charged £12 for the bounced cheque, which they generously (!) agreed to halve when I phoned up about it.

They said payments take 5 - 7 working days to clear and that it was not an error on their part.

I'll take the hit of the £6, but as a general rule do balance transfers/payments always take a few days to clear for all credit cards? I appreciate that cheques have a clearance time, but does a balance transfer need a clearance time?

Does a bounced cheque affect my credit rating?

Thanks

p1an0player

bumpety bump

As a general rule do balance transfers/payments always take a few days to clear for all credit cards? I appreciate that cheques have a clearance time, but does a balance transfer need a clearance time?

Does a bounced cheque affect my credit rating?