7 ms·

Tangent to the article, but what I really want is a bank that allows me to do funds transfers immediately. I understand they make a lot of money off of the flo

by zheng 15y ago

Tangent to the article, but what I really want is a bank that allows me to do funds transfers immediately. I understand they make a lot of money off of the floating period, but there's got to be a way to place some other kind of restriction on me so that I can transfer funds quickly. Or, just find a bank that offers both a checking account and a high interest rate...

nicksergeant 15y ago
FWIW, USAA does fund transfer immediately, at least perceptively. When I transfer from a BoA account to USAA, funds are available within 10 minutes (close enough to "immediate" for me). USAA also does interest on checking accounts, debit-card-as-credit points, and ATM fee kickbacks.
- zheng 15y ago
  I use USAA for my general banking, but their savings interest rates just aren't competitive. I've had smaller transfers go that quickly, but larger ones still seem to take a couple days.
- dkokelley 15y ago
  I've noticed that while funds show as arrived/available in USAA, the originating account stills shows the funds available as well. This tells me it might be a convenience offered by USAA, even if the transaction hasn't processed yet. This is similar to cashing a check that the bank hasn't collected from yet. They take your good standing with them into account, and give you the money.
  - chris11 15y ago
    That's what they do with deposit@home. I don't think USAA cashes the checks immediately when you cash your checks online. That's why they require you to have a line of credit with them. When you cash a check they give you an interest free loan for the amount of the check. When the check clears the loan is paid off. And if the check doesn't clear they have the ability to take the money out of the account, or they actually give you a loan to cover the check if you have drained your acccounts.
    - nroach 15y ago
      I use deposit@home and have no formal line of credit with USAA. It may be something they're doing internally, but my only products with them are debit accounts. (My credit and insurance is done elsewhere due to non-competitive rates charged by USAA).
      - chris11 15y ago
        Yeah, I think its done internally, but according to the requirements you need to have either an active property insurance or an active line of credit, and you need to be qualified for both. So I don't know what's going on there. But I have noticed some of the bank's rates are not competitive. https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/bank_deposit https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/bank_deposit
        stevoyoung 15y ago
        You basically have to be P&C eligible to use deposit @ mobile / home. To be P&C eligible you need to be military or spouse / child of military.
oasisbob 15y ago
Delays in fund transfers are due to ACH network rules and processes, not float. Some institutions only process ACH files once or twice a day.
- zheng 15y ago
  I've waited > 1wk before for middle-sized transfers. What network rules are there? I wasn't aware of anything other than float causing delays in inter-bank transfers.
  - jtbigwoo 15y ago
    Banks generally delay ACH transactions longer if the respective clearing houses are in different federal reserve districts. When I worked with them, 7 business days was the max. In my opinion, 7 business days is excessive, even in the mainframe/batch world of banking.
    - mason55 15y ago
      Why does it take 7 business days? Even if they run a batch process once per day, then shouldn't it take a max of two days, one day to export and one to import?
      - jtbigwoo 15y ago
        There are two answers as far as I know. 1. The sending bank can reverse an ACH (electronic transfer) within a certain period of time due to fraud, death of the recipient, etc. (Up to 90 days in some cases.) By holding up the money, a bank protects itself from losing money on a reversal. If anything seems fishy, the receiving bank might hold the money for a few days. 2. The bank can get a little more float. Back when WAMU was going down, they started taking a week or more to clear large ACH's and deposits. Most banks don't hold innocent-seeming transfers for more than a day. The larger than usual transfers are the ones that often are delayed.
      - HoyaSaxa 15y ago
ZoFreX 15y ago
In the UK, pretty much all of our banks have this now, so it is technically feasible (it's almost instant between banks participating in the scheme).
gasull 15y ago
I'll get downvoted for this, but Bitcoin transfers are immediate. There are so many things wrong with the current financial system that the best solution is a new system altogether.
- dkokelley 15y ago
  They're not immediate. They need to be validated by the network, and that takes time.
  - gasull 15y ago
    Compared to ACH, they are pretty fast (hours in the worst case). If you pay a small fee, like 0.01BTC, they are pretty much immediate.
    - dkokelley 15y ago
      Comparatively sure, but can that scale? The transactions can happen quickly know, but if the volume was comparable to ACH volume, could it keep up?
      - gasull 15y ago
        It depends on how many transactions are there compared to how many people mining. The people who mine are the ones who spread the transactions across the network. The mining computing power is increasing way faster than the people using bitcoins.
    - jarin 15y ago
      Paying 20 cents for a faster transaction (assuming a value of around $20/BTC) isn't really a small fee, that's in the ballpark of what credit card gateways charge.
- smiler 15y ago
  Or a case of iteration and improvement. As mentioned in a previous comment - most UK banks participate in a scheme which allows instant transfer between accounts. Here's the other thing about UK banking for consumers. It is free - and most ATMs are part of a 'Link' scheme which means that you can use any ATM from any bank with any bank card and get out cash without being charged a fee. Oh, and of course I forgot the other great thing about UK and Europe - Chip & Pin. Instead of signing for every transaction in a restaurant etc - the server brings a device to your table where you then have to enter your pin number - it drastically cuts down on fraud - your card never leaves your sight and you need a PIN rather than a signature which no one ever checks or cares about. Not so much a new system, just a better one - which many places already have

by zheng 15y ago

nicksergeant 15y ago

FWIW, USAA does fund transfer immediately, at least perceptively. When I transfer from a BoA account to USAA, funds are available within 10 minutes (close enough to "immediate" for me). USAA also does interest on checking accounts, debit-card-as-credit points, and ATM fee kickbacks.

zheng 15y ago
I use USAA for my general banking, but their savings interest rates just aren't competitive. I've had smaller transfers go that quickly, but larger ones still seem to take a couple days.
dkokelley 15y ago
I've noticed that while funds show as arrived/available in USAA, the originating account stills shows the funds available as well. This tells me it might be a convenience offered by USAA, even if the transaction hasn't processed yet. This is similar to cashing a check that the bank hasn't collected from yet. They take your good standing with them into account, and give you the money.
- chris11 15y ago
  That's what they do with deposit@home. I don't think USAA cashes the checks immediately when you cash your checks online. That's why they require you to have a line of credit with them. When you cash a check they give you an interest free loan for the amount of the check. When the check clears the loan is paid off. And if the check doesn't clear they have the ability to take the money out of the account, or they actually give you a loan to cover the check if you have drained your acccounts.
  - nroach 15y ago
    I use deposit@home and have no formal line of credit with USAA. It may be something they're doing internally, but my only products with them are debit accounts. (My credit and insurance is done elsewhere due to non-competitive rates charged by USAA).
    - chris11 15y ago
      Yeah, I think its done internally, but according to the requirements you need to have either an active property insurance or an active line of credit, and you need to be qualified for both. So I don't know what's going on there. But I have noticed some of the bank's rates are not competitive. https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/bank_deposit https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/bank_deposit
      - stevoyoung 15y ago
        You basically have to be P&C eligible to use deposit @ mobile / home. To be P&C eligible you need to be military or spouse / child of military.

oasisbob 15y ago

Delays in fund transfers are due to ACH network rules and processes, not float. Some institutions only process ACH files once or twice a day.

zheng 15y ago
I've waited > 1wk before for middle-sized transfers. What network rules are there? I wasn't aware of anything other than float causing delays in inter-bank transfers.
- jtbigwoo 15y ago
  Banks generally delay ACH transactions longer if the respective clearing houses are in different federal reserve districts. When I worked with them, 7 business days was the max. In my opinion, 7 business days is excessive, even in the mainframe/batch world of banking.
  - mason55 15y ago
    Why does it take 7 business days? Even if they run a batch process once per day, then shouldn't it take a max of two days, one day to export and one to import?
    - jtbigwoo 15y ago
      There are two answers as far as I know. 1. The sending bank can reverse an ACH (electronic transfer) within a certain period of time due to fraud, death of the recipient, etc. (Up to 90 days in some cases.) By holding up the money, a bank protects itself from losing money on a reversal. If anything seems fishy, the receiving bank might hold the money for a few days. 2. The bank can get a little more float. Back when WAMU was going down, they started taking a week or more to clear large ACH's and deposits. Most banks don't hold innocent-seeming transfers for more than a day. The larger than usual transfers are the ones that often are delayed.
    - HoyaSaxa 15y ago

ZoFreX 15y ago

In the UK, pretty much all of our banks have this now, so it is technically feasible (it's almost instant between banks participating in the scheme).

gasull 15y ago

I'll get downvoted for this, but Bitcoin transfers are immediate. There are so many things wrong with the current financial system that the best solution is a new system altogether.

dkokelley 15y ago
They're not immediate. They need to be validated by the network, and that takes time.
- gasull 15y ago
  Compared to ACH, they are pretty fast (hours in the worst case). If you pay a small fee, like 0.01BTC, they are pretty much immediate.
  - dkokelley 15y ago
    Comparatively sure, but can that scale? The transactions can happen quickly know, but if the volume was comparable to ACH volume, could it keep up?
    - gasull 15y ago
      It depends on how many transactions are there compared to how many people mining. The people who mine are the ones who spread the transactions across the network. The mining computing power is increasing way faster than the people using bitcoins.
  - jarin 15y ago
    Paying 20 cents for a faster transaction (assuming a value of around $20/BTC) isn't really a small fee, that's in the ballpark of what credit card gateways charge.
smiler 15y ago
Or a case of iteration and improvement. As mentioned in a previous comment - most UK banks participate in a scheme which allows instant transfer between accounts. Here's the other thing about UK banking for consumers. It is free - and most ATMs are part of a 'Link' scheme which means that you can use any ATM from any bank with any bank card and get out cash without being charged a fee. Oh, and of course I forgot the other great thing about UK and Europe - Chip & Pin. Instead of signing for every transaction in a restaurant etc - the server brings a device to your table where you then have to enter your pin number - it drastically cuts down on fraud - your card never leaves your sight and you need a PIN rather than a signature which no one ever checks or cares about. Not so much a new system, just a better one - which many places already have