Alliance & Leicester Plus account

MarkyMarkD

Thanks, Proliant. As I said before, the available balance is updated for ATM withdrawals and debit card payments instantly. It's the only balance that is worth looking at.

If, Surfer, you instruct a bill payment, it will appear on Internet Banking in "pending payments" until the time when it is debited from your available balance.

Regarding "withdrawals reflect that you have exceeded your overdraft ..." this doesn't mean anything. You aren't charged for being overdrawn in these circumstances. Once again, the salary credit is in your available funds as soon as it is posted overnight.

Surfer

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

If, Surfer, you instruct a bill payment, it will appear on Internet Banking in "pending payments" until the time when it is debited from your available balance.

That was the problem as it was not reflected in my available balance and if the wife could have seen that she would not have drawn the money causing us to exceed our limit by £3.48! We have no wish to join the thousands of others claiming back illegal bank charges. As I said before and no one can argue on it, A & L have antiquated software manging their systems. I have seen better in third world countries.
However I do concede that I was stupid and made a mistake switching accounts to A & L!

PROLIANT

Surfer wrote: »

That was the problem as it was not reflected in my available balance and if the wife could have seen that she would not have drawn the money causing us to exceed our limit by £3.48! We have no wish to join the thousands of others claiming back illegal bank charges. As I said before and no one can argue on it, A & L have antiquated software manging their systems. I have seen better in third world countries.
However I do concede that I was stupid and made a mistake switching accounts to A & L!

A&L use 3 factor security software and is miles ahead than the likes of Halifax etc, Bank of America use a similar system so I think third world statement is a bit silly, and the same people piping up about "illegal bank charges" are the same people that don’t appear to know what is going in and out of there accounts, I think the word financial management comes to mind here, if you don not have an overdraft then don’t let your balance go to zero, always keep a fifty quid float in your account from month to month, I am on a s**t wage and I can afford to do this, I live hand to mouth and just manage to pay my bills each month and support my family, I earn £17500 per year gross and take home around £1140 per month after tax, I have £135 per month left as residual income which I make sure doesn’t go below £50 across the whole month, the rest usually goes to my girlfriend or we dine out etc.

MarkyMarkD

Surfer It may not seem like it, but there's a good reason for this.

If you instruct a bill payment, the money doesn't leave your account until the next working day. Therefore the money is still available until the next working day. The bill payment is no different to a direct debit or a cheque which is going to clear tomorrow. None of them will be shown as deducted from your available balance until the correct date.

If you were getting paid your salary, by BACS, tomorrow, and had instructed a bill payment today, which would leave your account tomorrow, then it's perfectly OK to withdraw cash today. Under your suggestion, the money would instead be removed from your available balance, stopping you spending it! That would be wrong.