The time between when you write a check and when the money is taken out of your checking account (also known as float) is now down to zero. If you write a check at someplace like my employer (a major big box specialty retailer), the check goes into the cash register and “BOOM” the cash leaves your account. Right then and there. There is no more two or three day grace period for checks.
However, this is still not true for the checks you deposit to your account at the bank. Show up with anything other than a paycheck or a government check, and you have to wait a few days for the money to show up in your account. That means that the bank has free use of your money from the time you deposit the check until the time it finally appears in your account. Now, you can’t tell me that banks that process E-checks for merchants can’t do the same for their customers. If I don’t have a float period anymore, then the banks shouldn’t have one either.
‘Nuff said….
2 comments:
I've found it varies by how they rank your account and how much money it is compared with how much your account averages. I talked to our bank once and they were routinely immediately crediting me with large amounts ($1k) because our average balance was high and the person was local and in good standing (although not with the same bank). When I deposited a smaller amount from a company they held it. Weird huh?
Gee, and for some reason everything is the exact opposite for me. Any cheque I deposit is immediately available, but it seems to take days for the cheques I write to clear through my account.
Heck I still can't figure out why two separate cheques written for the same day to the same company were taken out of my account three days apart. I don't get it.
Of course I'm still reeling over the people writing cheques at stores. I didn't know anyone still did that, but then everyone in Canada uses debit instead of cheques since debit is more common up here I believe. (I could even pay my rent by debit at one place I rented!)
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