When writing a check?

Question

This is gonna sound kind of odd...but I get paid on friday, and I need to buy something now with that money. The money is direct deposited into my account on Friday at 12am...if I were to write a check today, would it clear and not cause my acct to overdraft?

Answer 1

The new systems will increase your risk of overdraft. You used to be able to play the "float", meaning you knew you had a few days between writing the check and when it will hit your account. Newer electronic systems have shortened that float period drastically because it allows the bank to receive and read the information faster.

If you write a check today, it will not get deposited until tonight or tomorrow morning. If it is deposited Wednesday night, it will be processed that evening and the request for transfer will be made Thursday. If they make the request Thursday, it could transfer by end of business day and cause your account to bounce. If your bank receives the request after the end of business day Thursday, they will leave it as a pending Friday transaction. Banks will always count deposits before withdrawals...meaning they will count your direct deposit to your account before subtracting the check.

Ask the place your writing the check to when they will be depositing the money. If they deposit in the morning, you should be all set.

Answer 2

OK, if you are going to Target or Walmart you will not be able to do it, it will most likely clear your bank tomorrow, thus causing an overdraft.

But if you really need what you say you need, go to the place you need to buy this at about 1/2 hour before closing. Why you ask, the accounting department is not in and the night deposit has already been made, so your check would not be looked at until the accounting department comes in on Thursday, the place you bought the product at will most likely have an early morning deposit 10am so it is possible that it will make the morning deposit, and call your bank by mid afternoon on Thursday and ask if they have a "Pending" withdraw for the check you wrote. If they say yes, then your check will not clear until early Friday morning, if they say no, then you are ok and the check will most likely come in on Friday or Saturday.

Either way, I know times are rough, but if you get used doing this it will most likely back fire on you and you will have the NSF charges on your account.

I hope this works for you.....Good Luck!

Answer 3

Back in the "old" days, you could write a check up to 3 days before the money was in the account because it took that long to clear the merchant's bank and then clear your bank. But today, no. If you write a check today to a merchant and he deposits it (usually the same day) there is a strong chance that it will draft from your account the same day (or the next), even if you don't use the same bank. If there is no money in your account when you write the check, a private individual will perhaps hold it for a couple of days if you ask them to. However, post dating a check will do no good, as all is done by computers. Overdraft fees suck. Banks and Credit Card companies make a good share of their profits from them. Hope this helps. The best advice I can share is just to plain not buy anything if you don't have the money to do so. It's a good habit to get in to.

Answer 4

I've worked at a bank for over three years. It really depends when the check clears the bank. If your direct deposit and the check you wrote clear the same night then your deposits always hit your account before the checks, so you won't get hit with an overdraft fee. If the store you need to pay today uses an electronic method of taking in your check (ACH) then it will hit your account immediately, but if they deposit the check into their bank at the end of the day or the next day the old fashioned way. Then you might have one day of float time. With banks now using check 21 the "float" time is now limited to 1 or 2 days. Floating is illegal and that is grounds for your bank to close your account. All banks have a program watching accounts to see if people are floating (we call it kiting). With everything being processed electronically it makes it a lot harder to float. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

You have to be careful because more places are starting to use a check scanning system where it scans and deducts the amount of the check from your checking account immediately. In that case, no you won't be able to write the check. Technically, you are saying the money is in the account at the time you write and date the check. If you really need money and don't want to risk overdraft and bad check fees, go to a check cashing place. They are expensive, but if you pay it off right away on Friday, it won't be too bad depending on how much you decide to borrow.

Answer 6

It used to take three days for a check to clear, but now with electronics, it can be less then one day. This could cause an overdraft. Unless it is something that is absolutely, positively necessary, to have, wait until Friday One of the problems that we face, is people spending money that they don't have, just to satisfy a whim.

Answer 7

I noticed some folks simply do not like to use the verify card and that's ok with me. I do detect it extra among the many people who are at least 60-65 or older. They have been raised in a generation that is all that they had. Noting flawed with it. Simply be sufferer I think rationale I could must write a determine someday say if my card can't be learn through the computing device. It is all good. :)

Answer 8

It would probably hit the bank Friday AM so yes it would cause an overdraft. No way to really tell.

Answer 9

i observed some human beings do exactly no longer want to apply the verify card and that's pleased with me. I do be conscious it greater between the human beings who're a minimum of 60-sixty 5 or older. They have been raised in a technology it quite is all they had. Noting incorrect with it. only wait and notice i think of reason i'm going to might desire to write down a verify sometime say if my card won't have the ability to be examine by using the gadget. that's all stable. :)

Answer 10

That's not odd... most people have that worry at some point... It all depends on when they cash the check... Most places cash all their checks on Tuesday... just ask them