Banks, Computers, and Delays: A rant.

[Brad Johnson]

Back to the source of my question.  Why isn't it immediate?  No human beings are needed to post a pending notice on an account.  That data can't be sent around the world in a few seconds.  It's not immediate because it's not immediate really isn't an answer.

It isn't immediate because they have a bunch of checks and balances in place to keep your money safe and in the proper hands.  Some of those checks and balances are bank policy, some are the result of federal and state regulatory requirements.

As for why, it's been explained.  If you don't like the answer, stop asking the question.  Until you accept the fact that that electronic does not equal [/immediate] the whole discussion is a useless waste of time no matter what your preconceived notion of the process might be.

if they did that they wouldn't get to collect 20 to 100 bucks for the overdrafts.

And if people would stop trying to beat their check to the bank and actually leave a reasonable amount of lag time for transaction processing, they wouldn't have to worry about those overdrafts.

Basic money handling isn't hard, but it does take some realistic expections and a little bit of forethought.

Brad

[French G.]

I like my bank, only 3 branches, local shareholder owned, and you can talk to the man in charge. Their computer system does do some of the stupid already mentioned. The only two things I hate are the fact the bank is so local, I was on the road and weather had killed the internets at home. No phone/internet, ATM no worky, you no buy gas.

The other kills me and there is no reason except that they keep their computerized banking a little too manual. Say you have $150 in your account and you withdraw $100 from the ATM on Friday after hours or the weekend. Still have $50 so pulling $40 more out or using your debit should be a piece of cake right? Wrong. Stupid system logs the transaction twice so you show an overdraft until things reconcile monday morning.  

[taurusowner]

It isn't immediate because they have a bunch of checks and balances in place to keep your money safe and in the proper hands.  Some of those checks and balances are bank policy, some are the result of federal and state regulatory requirements.

As for why, it's been explained.  If you don't like the answer, stop asking the question.  Until you accept the fact that that electronic does not equal [/immediate] the whole discussion is a useless waste of time no matter what your preconceived notion of the process might be.

And if people would stop trying to beat their check to the bank and actually leave a reasonable amount of lag time for transaction processing, they wouldn't have to worry about those overdrafts.

Basic money handling isn't hard, but it does take some realistic expections and a little bit of forethought.

Brad

So they can't post a non-binding pending notice in your account just to give you a visual heads up that a transaction took place basically because they don't feel like it.  Gotcha.

[Brad Johnson]

So they can't post a non-binding pending notice in your account just to give you a visual heads up that a transaction took place basically because they don't feel like it.  Gotcha.

See above for post on "memo posted transaction". 

Brad

[sanglant]

And if people would stop trying to beat their check to the bank and actually leave a reasonable amount of lag time for transaction processing, they wouldn't have to worry about those overdrafts.

Basic money handling isn't hard, but it does take some realistic expections and a little bit of forethought.

Brad

i wasn't saying it was a good thing. my bank offers a service where they will move money from savings to cover it. but they still charge you, i think it's half though. i have software that keeps track of it all for me. gg moneydance.

[taurusowner]

See above for post on "memo posted transaction".

Brad

I get that part.  Really I'm not trying to be an ass.  I get that they do a "memo posted transaction" for some transactions, but not all.  Is there a reason for this besides "that's just not what they do"?  

Swipe your card and type in your pin at a gas pump, and a "memo posted transaction" is placed on your account within seconds.  Sure the money itself may not be totally processed, but the transaction shows up in your account, and your available balance is changed to reflect the amount you will have after it is processed totally.

BUT, you transfer money from one account to another and no notice of any sort is posted anywhere for days.  Why the disparity between the two transactions?  Neither involve people.  Neither have to be totally processed.  Is there a real reason a bank can't post the same "memo posted transaction" for an account-to-account transfer just like they do with an account-to-merchant transfer?

[Doggy Daddy]

Is there a real reason a bank can't post the same "memo posted transaction" for an account-to-account transfer just like they do with an account-to-merchant transfer?

I think it's cuz the bankers have all seen Office Space.

DD

[Brad Johnson]

I get that part.  Really I'm not trying to be an ass.  I get that they do a "memo posted transaction" for some transactions, but not all.  Is there a reason for this besides "that's just not what they do"? 

Swipe your card and type in your pin at a gas pump, and a "memo posted transaction" is placed on your account within seconds.  Sure the money itself may not be totally processed, but the transaction shows up in your account, and your available balance is changed to reflect the amount you will have after it is processed totally.

BUT, you transfer money from one account to another and no notice of any sort is posted anywhere for days.  Why the disparity between the two transactions?  Neither involve people.  Neither have to be totally processed.  Is there a real reason a bank can't post the same "memo posted transaction" for an account-to-account transfer just like they do with an account-to-merchant transfer?

Swipe your card and Vis/MC/Discover does intant electronic notification to each institution involved, memo transaction is noted, and funds transfer process begins.  Do a transfer from bank to bank and the receiving institution has no knowledge of the transaction until the process is complete and the funds hit their incoming electronic funds account.

Brad

[taurusowner]

What if the receiving institution is the one initiating the transaction?  I logon to my USAA account to pull money from another bank into the USAA account.  It's immediately available for spending from my USAA account, but the other bank doesn't know it's gone for a week.

[KD5NRH]

In order to comply with .gov regulations.  Just keep in mind that if there's something really stupid going on, then the .gov has thrown a wrench in the process/works.

More to the point, there are so damned many .gov monkey wrenches already in the works that they can blame anything they want on the .gov and 99.9999% of people will never bother to read the regs deeply enough to find that what they're claiming is mandatory is not.

[Brad Johnson]

What if the receiving institution is the one initiating the transaction?  I logon to my USAA account to pull money from another bank into the USAA account.  It's immediately available for spending from my USAA account, but the other bank doesn't know it's gone for a week.

They know, it's just not showing up on your online acccount info.  That's an issue of the bank not having their electronic banking info updated properly.

Because I know you'll ask...

No, the information you access online is not directly tied to your bank account.  Customer Accounts and Electronic Banking (or whatever your bank calls it) are two different departments within the bank.  How well, and how quickly, they share information is the determiner of when the transfer will show up in your online account info.

Brad