effin eBay (OT)

On or around Wed, 10 Jan 2007 15:16:52 GMT, rads enlightened us thusly:

I got stung quite a bit for negotiating a dollar cheque.

My bank does that to, but how long does it take to transfer money to a non Lloyds account? Are you sure the money is cleared instantly when you pay in a cheque or do Lloyds just allow you to withdraw the money on the assumption it will be cleared?

Or are you just seeing you new balance - not available funds? Both my business and personal accounts at Lloyds take 3 or 4 days to actually clear cheques.

Richard

It's kind of a compromise between the two. You see the balance of your account with the cheque immediately on deposit, but you can't draw on it until the cheque has cleared. However - you do start to earn interest on the money the day the cheque was paid in. In reality it's a marketing gimmick - how many people are paying in cheques where they are earning that much interest in the 3/4 days it would take to clear at any other bank so as to make any real difference?

Matt

Mine actually allow you to spend the money straight away, actually seems to be after 6pm on the day I pay in a cheque, on the assumption the cheque will not bounce. I was sweating a bit a couple of months ago as it took 10 days for one cheque to clear. I do find there is a discrepancy in the account totals in that the money available the previous night and my account total seems to differ by the amount of the cheques paid in, so far their has been no problem spending the money.

Cheques never truly "clear", if you receive payment by cheque and 6 months later the bank decide that it's a fraudulent cheque, the money will be whipped out of your account again without warning. Ask your bank about that.

This happens a lot on places like ebay when someone offers to pay you £6,000 by cheque for a £100 item and you are requested to give the item and the remaining £5,900 to someone who turns up to collect it. I had some n*****ts try that out on me when I was selling a telly (needless to say I refused). The cheque clears, you wait for a few weeks, hand over the item and the money, then the bank comes along and say the cheque was a fraud and the £6,000 vanishes from your account after you've handed over £5,900 to the accomplice.

Belive me. I'm very well aware of that! It's just a neighbouring business £6,000.

A very well known scam, often done with credit cards as well.

Richard

You want to get your head out of the sand!, no cheque is ever cleared instantly it just appears on your ballance instantly. Mine does exactly the same, but if the cheque bounces your ballance drops instantly and that can put you over your overdraft limit and incuring penalties instantly.

And as others have said no cheque really clears in 3-4 days as they claim, try phoning and asking for a definitive statement that a specific cheque has cleared and you will just get "well if it's over 4 days it SHOULD have done" or words to that affect.

Greg

cleared

exactly

You can 'special' clear cheques there and then - matter of minutes but fees mount up. There is also 'Transax' that some businesses subscribe to, where it is all done on the phone while the customer waits (and has no extra fees to pay)

AWEM

I've not come across these, I know there is electronic funds transfer that is instant and final that solicitors use for mortgages and conveyancing, but they charge =A350 a time for that!. Greg

subscribe

I've not come across these, I know there is electronic funds transfer that is instant and final that solicitors use for mortgages and conveyancing, but they charge £50 a time for that!. Greg

Greg,

Transax details:

This seems to be an insurance scheme, as such I can't see it being cheap 8-)

"Their bank then sends the cheque by first-class post directly to the paying bank, contacting them by phone on the following working day to confirm whether it will be paid."

Hmm, so what if the paying bank gets an electronic transfer clearing the account out after they've confirmed verbally that the account has sufficient funds?, will they still honour the cheque when it's eventually presented through the conventional channel?, will they refust the electronic transfer because of the assurance they made on the phone?.

I'm afraid this doesn't seem that reliable to me, it doesn't say they will reserve the funds for the cheque when they take the call so I can see a scam getting around it and the bank won't be the loser...

Greg

Greg,

Transax (from my use as a purchaser over counters) is that subscribers take the cheque, scuttle off to the back office for a few minutes, then having made a 'phone call come back and say 'that'll do nicely sir'

Special Clearance, if paying into your own branch in person can be done the same way, so you present the cheque, ask for special clearance, get pushed out of the queue for 5 mins and then can draw on the funds. Not personally done this, just been behind another bank customer who was doing it !

AWEM

On or around Mon, 15 Jan 2007 09:41:13 -0000, "Andrew Mawson" enlightened us thusly:

I forget how much HSBC charge fro express cheque clearance - it used to be 3 quid, but I bet it's gone up. Then again, if you're talking about a cheque for a grand, it's worth it.

I always assumed that Transax charges the businesses. They must make their money somewhere.