Made a purchase online with a check.......

[AC Man]

It cleared my bank today, seller says it will take 3 -5 days before it shows up in his account before he can ship my item. Is this true, never happened before. just wondering.

 

[Skeet 028]

Sounds like BS yo me. When money is deposited to my account it shows up in mere hours or less. The days of kiting checks have been gone for 20 years or more

 

[LVSteve]

I've heard of that sort of delay. I agree that it seems odd in these days of electronic transfer, but our banking system is a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Take a time machine to 2008 if you need a reminder.

 

[yaktamer]

When you say pay by check, I assume you mean an ACH transaction, which, unlike a wire transfer, can take a few days.

 

[Tom S.]

Many banks now require a waiting period to make sure a check clears the bank it is written on. Maybe he misunderstood what his bank told him, as once it cleared your bank, his bank should have been satisfied.

 

[BillyMagg]

It is likely listed as "pending"

Many banks now require a waiting period to make sure a check clears the bank it is written on. Maybe he misunderstood what his bank told him, as once it cleared your bank, his bank should have been satisfied.

A personal check is still a good way to make purchases here on the S&W forum. It's never a bad idea to give a transaction a few days to "stabilize".

It used to be typical to allow 10 days for checks to "clear".

Now with electronic transfers, it may show up very quickly, but is often listed as "pending", which means it's in the system, but hasn't "landed" yet.

It's always best if two gentlemen have an understanding that I may want to wait a day or two for funds to be verified, before shipping an item.

My wife is a financial officer at our local bank.

 

[BillyMagg]

that's correct

Many banks now require a waiting period to make sure a check clears the bank it is written on. Maybe he misunderstood what his bank told him, as once it cleared your bank, his bank should have been satisfied.

My wife can "see" my paycheck a few days before it actually hits, those funds are not available..

Cash, Wires, are usually available, but if it comes in later as a scam, it will come out of your account.

A cashier's check can often be used immediately, but your bank is allowed to put a 24 hour hold on a cashier's check

So bank policys are different, my bank called a check writers bank to "verify" his check, but his bank refused to verify it, because it was written on a personal account, had it been a business account they would have "verified" it..

But that only "verifies" that those funds are available "right now",, if another check has been written and presented for those same funds, and it got there first?? then you are the "cat" left holding the bag..

Lots of scammers out there folks,, business here on the S&W forum is amazing most of the time,, but if somebody wants to wait a few days for funds to "clear" it actually protects everybody involved.

 

[Farmer17]

With my bank it depends on how much money and if its from a brand new account. A big check from someone who has never had one of their checks processed by my bank before my take 3 days before I can draw funds from it.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

...... The days of kiting checks have been gone for 20 years or more

You're just not doing it right

 

[grover99]

Made my first payment on the new Part D drug insurance system. Could not get the online payment to work because some problems on their end. So I mailed them a check. I write fewer than 4 checks a year anymore and been waiting two weeks for my check clear the bank but still has never arrived at my bank. I guess I am going to set aside an hour this morning to call the insurance company and try to find out where the problem is. Could be the USPO has lost the check or the insurance Co had not gotten the bugs worked out of the new system. The older I get the more complex living life gets

 

[Pisgah]

The amount of the check will show in his account immediately; however, most banks state a 3-4 day clearance period before they will allow withdrawals against that amount. Annoying, but standard banking practice for checks from "foreign" (that is, "other") banks...

 

[grover99]

Made my first payment on the new Part D drug insurance system. Could not get the online payment to work because some problems on their end. So I mailed them a check. I write fewer than 4 checks a year anymore and been waiting two weeks for my check clear the bank but still has never arrived at my bank. I guess I am going to set aside an hour this morning to call the insurance company and try to find out where the problem is. Could be the USPO has lost the check or the insurance Co had not gotten the bugs worked out of the new system. The older I get the more complex living life gets

Got off phone with insurance company and looks like USPO strikes again. First check I have mailed in six months and the post office loses it.

 

[Brian Parrish]

My wife can "see" my paycheck a few days before it actually hits, those funds are not available..

Cash, Wires, are usually available, but if it comes in later as a scam, it will come out of your account.

A cashier's check can often be used immediately, but your bank is allowed to put a 24 hour hold on a cashier's check

So bank policys are different, my bank called a check writers bank to "verify" his check, but his bank refused to verify it, because it was written on a personal account, had it been a business account they would have "verified" it..

But that only "verifies" that those funds are available "right now",, if another check has been written and presented for those same funds, and it got there first?? then you are the "cat" left holding the bag..

Lots of scammers out there folks,, business here on the S&W forum is amazing most of the time,, but if somebody wants to wait a few days for funds to "clear" it actually protects everybody involved.

My daughter works for the "Clearing House" which is the CH in the ACH.
Her job is transactions education, and she teaches banks and sometimes bank lawyers how to comply with government requirements and how to prevent or recognize fraud.

Her personal opinion is that Obama's idea, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has made the situation worse. It is her personal opinion not the Clearing House mind you.

If you get robbed on the side of the road, do you sue the taxi company to get your money back? When your gold watch gets taken during a stagecoach holdup by Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, do you expect Wells Fargo to buy you a new watch? These older ladies who got scammed in a romance scam want the bank to give them their money back! Nobody wants to take responsibility for their own decisions, and the purpose of the CFPB is to make sure they never have to.

Regardless of how anybody feels about that situation, the simple fact is that when people do not feel the consequences, there is no incentive to take care. They have become more gullible, hence the volume of fraud is dramatically increasing.

"What about checks?" I asked.
She said, "It is true that check use is decreasing, but it will not go away until the Gen Xers are your age, Dad. Check use has gone down but check fraud has gone way up."

About check fraud? "Check washing," she said. "They wash everything but the signature and sell bundles of checks on the dark web.
'Here are ten checks from so-and-so company and they have an average daily balance of whatever.'
They get that information usually by hacking the company's banking with a phishing email and the company does not even know it happened."
"They steal the checks, sometimes right out of the mailbox, but a lot of times they will hold up the post office, and sometimes it is the postal employees."

Random quotes:
"If you make the banks pay, they will shut it down."
"Amazon doesn't care. They push everything back on the sellers."
"Electronic transactions act under 'Rules and Regulations' but checks work under law. There is a big difference."
"The mom and pop stores can't handle it. They just go out of business."
"If it is not too much, WalMart can hide it in the volume or pass the costs along to the sellers."

"Nobody wants the responsibility!"

Kind Regards!
BrianD

 

[AC Man]

I was just curious. It shipped in about 4 days after clearing my bank. No big deal. Thanks!