HSBC/Cheques in general

[kirennia]

Aloha!

Right, I've just paid in a cheque at HSBC from another HSBC account and I've been told I'm not going to get the thing cashed until the 27th. Is that the normal amount of time; 4 working days? From one account of HSBC to another?

I wouldn't normally be bothered but currently being day 2 into my unneeded fast, 8 days before my final project hand-in, I'm less then amused...

Still, makes me laugh though, facing a potential 6 days without any food whatsoever and then I get both my scholarship and student loan on the same day... isn't that going to be useful. And to make it even 'funnier', I noted the letter of when I was supposed to receive it was dated the 20th of February (and yes I've been chasing them since at least that time...).

I'm not looking forward to this...

 

[Ezteq]

yes it stinks,
B2 works for the mothers and his pay cheque takes ages to clear

Sorry

 

[Chronictank]

you cant blame the bank because you spent all your money without thought of the concequences

Cheque's have always taken at least a working week to clear, some take longer depending where your branch is and who it is coming from/going to
With a cheque the process to verify it is the same regardless which account it is from unless it is from the same branch which is why it takes so long

probably not possible in your case but a BT or direct debit would have been almost instantaneous

edit:
general rule but varies across banks
Day 2: Earns interest
Day 4: Can withdraw the money
Day 6: Cheque cleared <- only now can you pay bills and such with the funds

HSBC quote "up to working 10 days" to clear a cheque

 

[kirennia]

you cant blame the bank because you spent all your money without thought of the concequences

Exhibit A your honour:

And to make it even 'funnier', I noted the letter of when I was supposed to receive it was dated the 20th of February (and yes I've been chasing them since at least that time...).

Other then that comment, cheers

 

[Fafnir]

Alot of banks have this delay, just to have time to check the cheque but since its only 1 bank involved i dont think it should take that time.

 

[Sparda]

Some banks have a house cheque system. Basicaly if you the cheque into a branch of the same sort code as it, it 'clears' next working day.
The thing is it doesnt actualy clear. And can still bounce 6 days later. So it is a prime chanel for fraud. Alot of banks are now ditching the current house cheque system for one that lets it 'clear' in 3 days. It still takes 6 days for a full clear, but 3 days gives the bank that bit longer to stop fraud.

 

[Chronictank]

Other then that comment, cheers

Sorry but if you were having issues for weeks and were uncertain you were going to get the money in any hurry it is your own fault you don't have food so there is no use in whining about it and blaming the bank

Blame the bank for late cheque - yes
blame the bank because you have no food - no

End of the day if you were budgeting and you were'nt borderline the first place there would be pleanty of scope to be living off your overdraft

 

[pez]

its just a fraud issue. If you made an electronic payment from one HSBC account to another via internet banking it would be instant because theres much less risk of fraud. The money exists at the time of the transaction and the person making the transaction has accessed a secure system via a log in and password. With cheques theres no guarantee the money even exists and even if it appears to exist it may not, hence the clearing cycle.

 

[Bahumat]

I personally don't think your cheque will even clear!

 

[Mey]

Lloyds TSB to Lloyds TSB personal cheques clear instantly (if their are funds avaiable in the account the money is coming from). 1 day clearance for business cheques.

We rock more than HSBC

 

[Genedril]

Sorry but if you were having issues for weeks and were uncertain you were going to get the money in any hurry it is your own fault you don't have food so there is no use in whining about it and blaming the bank

Blame the bank for late cheque - yes
blame the bank because you have no food - no

End of the day if you were budgeting and you were'nt borderline the first place there would be pleanty of scope to be living off your overdraft

(S) He's a student waiting for payment. Students are almost always living on the edge of their overdraft anyway. Not because it's fun, but because student grants aren't exactly a bounty of monetary bliss when you've got to do useful things like live / pay rent / buy food. Depending on the year Kir is in then they're almost certainly hocked up to the nines as it is (that's all dependant on being a UK student). When you say that 'it's not a banks fault for all the money being spent' - it's true; However, 'all your money' isn't much & if they've been eating up til now what exactly are they supposed to do?

Anyway - cheques have always been 5 working days iirc (apart from the instances pointed out above - think Barcalys do/did that). Bank transfers are the way to go if you are moving money from one of your accounts to another. If the cheque was from someone else that you've been chasing since 20th Feb then you've got my heartfelt condolences.

 

[gohan]

Some banks have a house cheque system. Basicaly if you the cheque into a branch of the same sort code as it, it 'clears' next working day.
The thing is it doesnt actualy clear. And can still bounce 6 days later. So it is a prime chanel for fraud. Alot of banks are now ditching the current house cheque system for one that lets it 'clear' in 3 days. It still takes 6 days for a full clear, but 3 days gives the bank that bit longer to stop fraud.

partailly ture



currently as in until friday lol, house chqs do "clear" same day as the funds are taken out of one account and put into another on the day they are processed, they also get sent of to a differrent palce just to be stored as they have already been processed, as from friday they go off like any other chq but the cash is avilble after 3 days, tho i think thats mainly to stop customers moaning about it changing from 1 day to 5

 

[kirennia]

And now it's been cleared and the money is in my account... guess this thread wasn't needed. Now I'm just confused...

 

[kirennia]

Bah, didn't realise they'd update your account but not allow you access to the money. /sigh. Back to the drawing board...

 

[Hawkwind]

Lloyds TSB to Lloyds TSB personal cheques clear instantly (if their are funds avaiable in the account the money is coming from). 1 day clearance for business cheques.

We rock more than HSBC

Well, your fucking useless in Dubai!!!

I had to write 36 cheques for a car 2 years ago, all for the same amount. Normal practice here in Dubai as there is no Direct Debit or Standing Order System. So I get a letter and follow up call from the finance company, HSBC as it happens, saying that last two cheques were refused by the bank.

So I checked my monthly statement and yes there was a line charging me 300 Dhs (55 GBP) for refusing the cheque. Not received the following statement yet so could not check the second occurrance but assumed it was the same. No letter from Lloyds just a charge.

So I call Lloyds and I'm told that the cheque was refused because I had changed the day date then initialed the change. He went on to explain that when anything on the cheque changes you must do a full signature not just initial the change. First time I've heard that as in UK we always used to just initial minor errors.

I asked the Customer Rep to explain the 300 Dirham charge. The conversation went something like this.

CSR, "The charges are purely admin for writing letters and such."

Me, "Hold on! You never wrote to me. I only found out from HSBC!"

CSR, "Oh you should have received a letter."

Me, "Well I didn't, do I get my 600 dirhams back?"

CSR, "We can't refund the charge as the reason for charging is still valid. You could have checked online for the charges."

Me, "Don't even get me started about the online services, I've been aggresively chasing up the login for 6 months! Also why are the reasons valid? The same amount has been paid to the same company for 2 years, on the same day of the month. A simple check on the account history would have told you the cheque should be honoured!"

CSR, "Oh, do you want me to chase that Internet Access up for you?"

Me, "Can we stay on subject please! Well as usual, talking to Lloyds is like banging your head against a brick wall. If it wasn't for the fact that every other bank here was equally as crap you would not have any customers! Personally I think your a bunch of thieves, you take 600 dirhams from me and don't even notify me of the reason why. You do know that defaulting a cheque in UAE can put you in Prison right? With that in mind, don't you think you should at least inform the customer when you refuse a cheque they wrote?"

.......Basically went on for 10 mins with no resolution. Complete bunch of f*cking idiots!

Took me 8 months to get a working Cash Card and Pin Number. 6 months plus still not got working Internet Access 3 logins and passwords sent so far have not worked. Luckily my main salary is paid in UK and I have an Offshore account in Jersey. Only allowances are paid here locally but it's still a complete pain in the butt that they are so crap.


/rant off

 

[Sparx]

The funny thing is cheques could clear straight away like every other type of transaction, but the 3-5 working days its clearing the money doesnt belong to anyone and means the take the interest from it. May not seem like much but when there are thousands of cheques a day it adds up

 

[Chronictank]

Bah, didn't realise they'd update your account but not allow you access to the money. /sigh. Back to the drawing board...

wait a few days mate you should have access by Monday

 

[Mey]

Can't quote on how things work in Dubai tbh, although a few weeks ago they were looking for a band 6! I was so tempted to go for it!