10 Day "Hold"

[SkyRider]

Have you ever heard of such a silly thing? My bank told me that any cheque I deposit to my savings account will be subject to a 10 business day "hold" even if it is a cheque payable to myself drawn on my account at a downtown Toronto branch of one of the "Big 3 Banks".

 

[Edifice]

Does this depend on the amount?

 

[nihilism]

10 days does seem excessive. 5 business days is usually standard. Why not jsut process the transacation with electronic fund transfer, or email money transfer?

 

[SkyRider]

Does this depend on the amount?

The subject bank said that they can legally hold the funds for as long as they like but they may at their discretion reduce or waive the hold period for deposits under $2,000.

 

[hairyfucker]

typically it is $$ dependant and customer dependant.

10 day or any other number is the standard line based on a protectionism plan by the bank – you would too if you owned the bank

you will normally see a much shorter duration but the standard line will be the standard line.

my main bank has a 3 day or 5 day depending on check. if I don’t ask it normally takes 1 to 2 days max. if I ask they just waive it.

 

[SkyRider]

Why not just process the transacation with electronic fund transfer, or email money transfer?

eTransfers are also subject to a hold . Also heard that even certified cheques might be subject to a hold. It appears the only deposit not subject to a hold is a cash deposit but that might change as there are lots of counterfeit bills floating around.

Does anybody know how long the 5 day hold has been around? It seems to date back to the ink and blotter days. With these superfast computers now, the money is whisked out of the drawer's account faster than you can say "no hold please".

 

[Gentle Ben]

I think once you establish a history with the bank, they will change as well. I used to have a hold on my business acct, not any more. There is however, a hold of 24 to 48 hours when depositing via ATM, and thats only protecting the Credit Union from fradulet ATM deposits/Withdrawls.
If I deposit via a Teller, theres no hold.

 

[SkyRider]

If I deposit via a Teller, theres no hold.

Please check with your bank on a regular basis. Banks are using the recession as a reason to make lots of changes.

My account use to have a "no hold" for any deposit under $10,000. Any deposit over $10,000 (really rare for me) would be subject to a 5 (or less) business day hold that was usually waived or reduced when I asked. This is now a brave new world in banking.

 

[Dougal Short]

When I was redoing my banking stuff post-divorce, they tried this crap on me too. They said it was now the standard policy. I told them that wasn't acceptable and asked for a draft for the money I had in my accounts as I was changing banks...

Suddenly the policy developed some flexibility. It's an easy way for the banks to make a ton of money when they lend all of your money (and everybody else's too) to others without paying you a cent.... Bastards.

My kids still have holds on theirs, so they sign their checks over to me, I deposit them, and then email them the money.

I'd try another bank. They will want your business and will allow instant access, assuming you don't have a history of bouncing cheques or something...

 

[clules]

10 days is the time is takes for a "stop-hold" order to be proccessed through the banking system. If the payee has placed a "stop-hold" on the cheque then the funds can be returned. Most banks will waive this if they know and trust both the payer and payee. They will not waive this if they do not trust you.

Another reason is this. In the past a person, using fake id, would open a account at a branch and deposit a large amount of money. A few days later they would then go to another branch and cash a queue from their own account. The same day they would go back to the first account and withdraw the funds. The cheque is processed overnight and the bank is now at a loss.

 

[The LoLRus]

Have you ever heard of such a silly thing? My bank told me that any cheque I deposit to my savings account will be subject to a 10 business day "hold" even if it is a cheque payable to myself drawn on my account at a downtown Toronto branch of one of the "Big 3 Banks".

I heard thats the norm now because of the recession.
Doesnt matter how much $$$ you have in account

 

[benn]

Have you ever heard of such a silly thing? My bank told me that any cheque I deposit to my savings account will be subject to a 10 business day "hold" even if it is a cheque payable to myself drawn on my account at a downtown Toronto branch of one of the "Big 3 Banks".

well maybe one possibility that you had a prior empty envelope or a bad deposit. from my recollection there really is no limit how long they can place a restriction on a hold cuz it takes more than 5 business to verify funds

 

[Dougal Short]

The "recession" is causing or allowing banks to make all sorts of changes unilaterally. I was at a smaller branch and wanted to withdraw $800 from and ATM which was the daily limit I had enjoyed for years. (You can imagine what it was for!)

Anyway, I got the "over the daily limit" message, so I went to see a teller who advised that the new daily limit was $400. They readily put it back up, but he explained that the smaller branches just didn't have enough cash in hand to allow for larger withdrawls. He told me that "technically" any withdrawl over $1000 could be delayed for a day. Anything $5000 or more would absolutely be denied until the next day... This was at a small Scotiabank branch in west Hamilton.

 

[Daddio]

6 day hold for me.

 

[thompo69]

I honestly don't remember when I last had a hold on any deposits I made. I just put 3k in cheques in at a bank machine, and it was at my disposal immediately.

 

[tboy]

I honestly don't remember when I last had a hold on any deposits I made. I just put 3k in cheques in at a bank machine, and it was at my disposal immediately.

It wall depends on a) how long you've been dealing with that particular bank, b) how much money you have on deposit c) whether you put up with it or not

I had the same thing then I had them change it to x amount. I haven't had a bad cheque in I don't know how many years. For interact money transfers, it's immediate as the funds are transferred from the issuer immediately.

This is similar to you making bill payments online. They remove the money from your account immediately, but take their time passing it onto the payee. They use that "kite" or "float" to earn interest, lend, etc etc.

In this day and age of electronic banking, I can bet you that within 24 hrs the money is removed from the issuing account. They just don't let you have it so they can use it for their own devices.

 

[hairyfucker]

..., I deposit them, and then email them the money....

can you pm me some money?

 

[Rockslinger]

In this day and age of electronic banking, I can bet you that within 24 hrs the money is removed from the issuing account.

Here is an example of how fast banks can zip money out of your account. 5 years ago, my neighbour was having some work done on her property. The workers said they noticed a problem on my property and would fix it for a "special low" price of $200. I didn't have cash, so I wrote them a cheque. This was on a Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday I got a call from a gentleman annoucing himself as the contractor on the job. He said that those workers were sub-contractors and they had no right to solicit business without his knowledge and consent. He said to put a stop payment on the cheque. I called my bank (say BMO) on Monday to put a stop payment. They said TOO LATE, money already gone . Those workers had deposited my cheque to their account at TD via an ATM on Saturday.

 

[einar]

No harm in getting acquainted with your bank manager. Tell him or her you have a couple of accounts at other banks as well, and are thinking it would be easier to consolidate all your business with the manager's bank.

Or ask about a mortgage.

Then explain that you would be more inclined to bank loyalty if they could get rid of their hold policy on your cheques.

There is flexibility in the system, and subjectivity. Use it to your advantage, assuming you have a blemish-free banking record with the bank. If not, just live with these holds and budget accordingly.

 

[pc0mo]

Have you ever heard of such a silly thing? My bank told me that any cheque I deposit to my savings account will be subject to a 10 business day "hold" even if it is a cheque payable to myself drawn on my account at a downtown Toronto branch of one of the "Big 3 Banks".

skimmed the rest of the thread but in my own experience if your account has regular checked wrote to it i just asked them to extend my LOC and over draft protectiong to be around the same ammount as my regular paycheck.

after i was approved for the loc and overdraft i never had to wait that 6 days again due to the fact i would be taking out of my over draft and once the check cleared my account would be functioning like normal.

one day when you have time to go into your home branch explain your situation with them and see if you can get the loc/overdraft so you can still acess some sort of funds while the rest of the account is on hold.