Bank making money from our money

[Janet-M]

Something has to be done about the way the banks are keeping hold of our money inbetween transfers and making money out of it .Last sunday 19th March I transfered a small amount of money from my bank account to pay the balance for the same banks Credit Card .Before midnight that night they took the money and it had Mondays date it is now 8 days later and my balance is stll not cleared.ok in this instance it is a very small amount but sometimes it's not and it can't possibly take this long to be automatically transfered from one department to the next.I have put a complaint in and waiting to see the answer but this is a ridiculous amount of time.Also I have noticed that even though it's all done automatically when it comes to the time my statement is being produced it takes even longer .I have phoned up constantly and been told in not so many words that I'm imagining it .

[forthepeople]

Some companies take ages to accept money for some reason. It's typically 3 working days but some take much longer and I'm sure they must invest it for a week before crediting your account!

Janet, even for cash onto most credit cards it seems not to be cleared for 6 working days. In relation to transfers for example between you and me there is faster payments just around the corner, as well as clearer advice on the cheque clearing cycle. As I said it is just around the corner. In relation to automation, I do think there is a certain amount of manual reading of credit card info, I hope someone who works within a credit card company can correct me on this or who has had experience of working within the sector can post on here.

[DollyDayDream]

I believe the regulators (sorry, not sure which) agree and are looking into making the banks get their collective fingers out over the time it takes for money to be cleared. It is a ridiculous state of affairs, as they can make money from the interest while they have it and we can't touch it.

DDD.

It is changing soon

[Castlebest]

All the banks have their total funds invested on the international money markets... yes that’s our money they are playing with and why it takes so long for transfers to happen because they have to replace your invested money with someone else’s... call it a perk of the job but it would cost a lot more to use a bank if they didn’t do it...

What I cant accept in this age of electronic wizardry is the clearing times haven’t reduced, minimum 3 days was in the days of cheques ffs…. I can do an internet bank payment and my money disappears instantly, it reappears 3 to 10 days later where I sent it.... yep they need to make money from their business but they are taking the p*ss at the moment..... funny my credit rating alters instantly I wonder if that’s a different computer.... <laffin>

it is changing, clearing cycle by the way is reliant on post which is why it is so long.
The system as I said is changing soon

[Harvest1]

how about 22 days ? I have just been caught by this one -
In March I applied online for a GE Money card with 0% deal, and to transfer the balance from an existing credit card at 0%. My card duly arrived before the end of March and I naively believed the transfer would therefore be processed.
On 3rd April I received the old credit card statement to find the balance hadnt been cleared & I had therefore incurred £23 interest. I rang GE who could not find the transfer instruction from my online app, agreed it was a problem they had and they would make the x/fr immediately. I then spoke to a supervisor who agreed to credit my £23 as goodwill.
My GE statement at the end of April shows the x/fr out of my card on 03 April.
Today my old credit card statement arrived. Lo and behold the credit went on it on 25th Apr - 22 days after being debited from the GE account.
And I have now incurred £12 late fee and £43 interest on the old card so I still owe them £55
When I rang GE they said I was told (in the CCA) it took 15 (working) days to clear balance x/fers so I had no cause to claim.... I was NOT told on the phone it would take this long - otherwise I'd have made a min payment to cover myself.
How can this be so - I expected 3-5 days for the normal "electronic" BACS system but not 3 weeks.
Anyone had similar experiences / advice as to where I should start complaint please??

worth reading the small print on the balance transfer bit IMHO. Sometimes i know it is easy to assume but with a balance transfers, timescale is everything.