Personal Banking Blues
I received a $500 check from a freelance client last week. I deposited it in my bank on Friday. Despite the fact that it was (as far as I can recall) from a local bank, the check still took 5 days to clear. The teller neglected to mention this, though they usually do when a check will have a hold.
So I presumed the money was there.
On Monday, I tried to book a plane ticket using my bank card.
Denied.
I checked my online bank account, which showed that the money was, indeed, there.
I tried again.
Denied.
Confused, I tried to PayPal myself $150 -- the price of the ticket -- and PayPal accepted the request.
The next day, I called my bank's homebase and asked what the situation was. The clerk explained that there was a hold on my check for 5 days, and that my account was actually $5 in the negative.
I wound up malling 3 different bank branches -- on of them twice -- to settle the matter. The last thing I was told, by the manager at my branch, was: "I'll try to find an image of the check to verify that it was a local bank. If that's the case, I'll see if I can lift the hold. In the future, remember that deposited checks may take up to 5 days to clear."
(Never mind that I've deposited checks from this client before that cleared automatically.)
"Will I get hit with overdraft fees because my account is in the negative?"
"Probably."
"But my online bank account tells me the money's there."
"Right. But just because the money's there, it doesn't mean it's available."
Cut to: today, the day I was told the check would finally be available.
I check my bank account. $467 available.
I inspect further. "$150 PayPal transfer - returned. $30 Insufficient Funds Cancellation fee."
Meanwhile, the price of the ticket is now $194.
So, essentially, I was charged a $30 penalty by my bank for not being able to transfer my own money from one account to another because I was overdrafted by $5 because no one told me there was a hold on the check.
Entire cost of not knowing there was a five day hold on the check? $74.
Personal banking = broken.
So I presumed the money was there.
On Monday, I tried to book a plane ticket using my bank card.
Denied.
I checked my online bank account, which showed that the money was, indeed, there.
I tried again.
Denied.
Confused, I tried to PayPal myself $150 -- the price of the ticket -- and PayPal accepted the request.
The next day, I called my bank's homebase and asked what the situation was. The clerk explained that there was a hold on my check for 5 days, and that my account was actually $5 in the negative.
I wound up malling 3 different bank branches -- on of them twice -- to settle the matter. The last thing I was told, by the manager at my branch, was: "I'll try to find an image of the check to verify that it was a local bank. If that's the case, I'll see if I can lift the hold. In the future, remember that deposited checks may take up to 5 days to clear."
(Never mind that I've deposited checks from this client before that cleared automatically.)
"Will I get hit with overdraft fees because my account is in the negative?"
"Probably."
"But my online bank account tells me the money's there."
"Right. But just because the money's there, it doesn't mean it's available."
Cut to: today, the day I was told the check would finally be available.
I check my bank account. $467 available.
I inspect further. "$150 PayPal transfer - returned. $30 Insufficient Funds Cancellation fee."
Meanwhile, the price of the ticket is now $194.
So, essentially, I was charged a $30 penalty by my bank for not being able to transfer my own money from one account to another because I was overdrafted by $5 because no one told me there was a hold on the check.
Entire cost of not knowing there was a five day hold on the check? $74.
Personal banking = broken.
Labels: banking, money, organization, personal
posted by Justin Kownacki at
11:23 AM
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7 comments
