Why does it take so long for cheques to clear?

Question

I put a cheque from Barclays ito my Barclays account on Wednesday at 12.15. I checked my account this morning and the cheque still hasn't cleared. Why does it take so long for it to clear, and when should I expect this cheque to be cleared.? It's maddening that it's taking this long

This cheque is for quite a bit of money, not a silly amount. So I agree that it's better to be safe than sorry, but i've been waiting 5 working days for clearence. If it clears tomorrow it would have taken 6. Also you'd have thought it would have cleared quicker because it has come from a Barclays account and is going into a Barclays account

Answer 1

There is no reason why cheques take up to 5 days to clear other than the greed of the banks who hang onto your money a little bit longer.

They stop paying interest the moment the cheque is presented but don't pay the other person for the 5 days.

Office of Fair Trading has told UK banks to change this from 2007.

Answer 2

In 1999 Barclays had posters which said, "Pleas Allow six working seconds for your cheques to clear." If this is the case, then the cheques should be cleared instantly now that we are 18 years on from then. Before then, they used to say 3 Working days,m but I would pay the cheque in on Monday, and it would not start to clear until Tuesday. I would go into the bank on wednesday, and ask why it has not cleared, since it has been 3 days, but they are saying that it is only 1 day, since the day you pay it in, is not counted.

The time that it takes for a cheque to clear, has gone up, from three working days, to over a week now. This is fr to long, as was the three days, it used to be. It proves that everything is going backwards, since everybody know that all of the checks which need to be carried out on the funds in the account of the person who wrote the cheque, can be completed as soon as the cashier has pressed the button.

We all understand that the piece of paper that the cheque is written on, needs to be transferred from one building, to another, and this could be in different parts of the country, but that can be carried out overnight. After all, the Post Office delivers things next morning, so the banks can often do things much more quickly than that. this means that the paper can travel in either minutes, or hours, on its full journey m, depending on how far it needs to travel.

The only reason I can think as to why the cheques take so long to clear, is because the banks are holding it up in the system, because they can. This way, the banks are holding onto the money, and that way they make more profits. Everybody knows that the whole system could be made to work in seconds, as happened at the turn of the century, but the banks are happy to keep hold of the money, for as long as they are allowed to. The longer the better, as far as they are concerned.

The only paper money now, is the cheque. All money is now electronic, and as soon as cash is paid over the counter, that is also electronic money. By not updating the system, the banks are making greater profits, which they should not be making. we all know, that if the paper has to be driven round the country, that can all be carried out, after the money has cleared anyway.

Answer 3

Banks and Bankers are the devil's spawn.
You will never get a fair deal out of any bank.
Unfortunately 'the system' is geared-up so that they cannot be avoided by anyone who doesn't want to eat insects and live in a cave.
This is how I truly and honestly feel, and I am not crazy.

Sometimes after leaving a Bank that has refused again from giving me my hard earned money, the only thing that keeps me from losing it completely is remembering the phrase "First up against the wall, when the revolution comes", and I'm a conservative.

Years ago, I was asked to put a check into a drop-in box by a bank employee when I was standing in line. It was my paycheck so I didn't want to, but she assured me that everything would be alright. I didn't see that check for 3 months, they had lost it. I won't mention the run-around I got during those 3 months. When it was finally found I was asked to come in and collect. The gave me a banker's cheque which I had to deposit, in a drop-in box.
I can't write what I told them to do, but I got my money in cash, and was refused service at any of their banks from then on.
I have never had any service in any bank which I would consider satisfactory.

Answer 4

There are two different issues her regarding clearance.

Clearance for fate, and clearance for interest.

Fate refers to if the cheque will bounce of not. This is still classed as day 5. The Drawee Bank see the cheque on day three and have two days to return it unpaid to the payee branch. If today is day 5 you should be able to draw the money from the branch after lunch.

Interest if another issue. Most banks will pay credit interest from day 3 (some from day one /some Building societies 7-10 days)

Yes it's a ripoff, but how do you think the banks make Billions each year?

Answer 5

When you pay a cheque into your account it is sent from the branch you pay it into to a "sorting" centre who then re-direct the original cheque to the Issuers bank for payment to be sent.
Therefore the funds are not shown as "cleared" in your account until your bank has deemed that there are no problems with the payment - ie that the cheque will not bounce.
This process is for your protection as if they just put the funds in your account straight away and the cheque bounced then your account would be debited and it would cause you a problem.
I don't agree with the fact that they don't pay interest but at the end of the day I would rather wait 3 working days for the money to know that I wasn't going to have a problem later !

Answer 6

Its a money making scam that adds to the banks profitablility by not paying out one the interest but allowing them to lend it out.

I saw a program about this, and they went to sweden and paid in a cheque, they then went to bank across the road and drew on it after about 30 mins. There is no beneficial reason, just greed.

Answer 7

The bank 'invests' your money for itself for the 3-5 days and hopes to make a profit on it before they put the original amount in your account.

If your cheque was for £100 and you banked it Monday 9am, the bank would then have until Friday to make money on it by investing (currencies/FTSE/NYSE etc etc...). Even if they make only a few pence, multiply this by the number of cheques (per day and their culmative value) and hey presto...loadsa money.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

the cheque has to first clear the senders bank before it is released into your account. this eliminates the risk on behalf of the bank

Answer 10

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