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Transfers, Electronic
Banks are making millions of pounds each year by failing to speed up the time
it takes to transfer money between accounts
Banking by phone and on the internet has made life much easier. We can pay
bills and transfer money without leaving the house or even getting out of bed.
But, although it now takes just seconds to request a payment to another
account, it still takes days for the money to reach its destination.

Whether it's a standing order to your credit card company, a one-off transfer
to your offspring stranded at the other side of the world, or even a payment
to yourself when you're juggling funds between accounts, why can't the
transfer go through at the click of a button?

The answer's simple. Banks use a slow, outdated system to transfer money, and
it's not in their interests to modernise it. When you ask your bank to
transfer funds, the money normally leaves your account that day. But your bank
generally holds on to it for at least two days, earning interest. See 'The
vanishing money trick', for an explanation of what happens.

Banks are making increasing amounts of money from electronic transfers, as the
chequebook becomes a thing of the past. Last year, we transferred around Ł50
billion by phone or internet - an increase of 20 per cent on the previous
year.


The Vanishing Money Trick


When you transfer money electronically - via a phone or internet banking
service, or by
standing order - the money generally leaves your account that day.
Here's what happens to it before it finally reaches its destination, assuming
you
instruct your bank to make a payment from your account on a Monday.



Day One - Monday
You request the transfer. Your bank should pass details of the transfer to
Bacs
(the banks' clearing system) by the end of the day.
It will move the money out of your account and into its suspense account.



Day Two - Tuesday
Your bank holds on to your money and earns interest on it.
Bacs processes the transfer and passes the details to the recipient's bank.



Day Three - Wednesday
Your bank transfers the money from its suspense account to the recipient's
bank.
The recipient can withdraw the money today.
If transfers arrive later than the third day, your bank has probably
delayed passing details to Bacs until day two or even day three.



Transfer Times On Test
The banks' systems mean a transfer to another bank will always take until at
least the third day. But some banks hold on to your money for an extra day,
boosting their profits even further.

We put 18 top banks and building societies to the test, using their phone and
internet banking services to request a total of 561 transfers between
different accounts. All the transfers were requested during working hours
between January and March this year. Here's what we found.

If you're waiting for the money
If somebody's transferred money to your account, or paid you by standing
order, it can be frustrating not to know when the money will turn up. We found
most transfers arrived on the third day (see 'Transfer times from each bank').
But more than a third didn't get there until the fourth, or even the fifth,
day.

Each bank's transfer times were fairly consistent. For example, money sent
from NatWest accounts always arrived on the third day, whether it was being
sent to an Abbey National, Barclays, or Woolwich account. But if you're
expecting money from Alliance & Leicester, Cahoot, Co-op, Halifax, IF, Lloyds
TSB, Nationwide, or Woolwich, you should be prepared to wait, no matter who
you bank with.

Transfers between banks in the same group - such as between HSBC and First
Direct, and Co-op and Smile - generally took place sooner, often on the day
the request was made.

If you've made the transfer
If you're transferring money to another person's account, the money will
normally leave your account on day one, no matter how long it then takes to
arrive.

Phone or internet?
Don't expect the high-tech world of internet banking to make transfers any
quicker. For most banks in our investigation, phone and online transfers took
the same length of time.

Strangely, with The Co-operative Bank and Alliance & Leicester, we found it
was quicker to use the phone than the internet. Alliance & Leicester's online
transfers all arrived on the fifth day - a day longer than those requested by
phone. The transfers we made via the Co-op's internet site were also slow.
Most arrived on either the fourth or fifth day, while all the Co-op's
telephone transfers, and all Smile transfers, reached their destination by the
third day.

The Banks' Excuses
Alliance & Leicester, the slowest bank in our investigation, told us that
'only if the request comes in after 8pm does it take five days'. However, we
made all 17 online transfer requests with Alliance & Leicester before 3.30pm,
and not one reached its destination before the fifth day.

The Co-op told us that all its online transfers should arrive on the third
day, unless they're set up as standing orders, in which case they would take
an extra day to arrive. It couldn't explain why some transfers didn't reach
the recipient until day five.

Alliance & Leicester did admit that 'the vast majority of transfers made by
phone or internet take four days'. So why is it slower than other banks? It
told us it's because it monitors transactions before forwarding details to
Bacs (the banks' clearing house) to make sure there's enough money in
customers' accounts. In fact, these checks should happen automatically as part
of the transfer process, and certainly shouldn't take a whole day.

Future Improvements?
Half the banks in our investigation told us they would like to see electronic
transfers speeded up. However, none of them has done anything to improve the
system, despite promises three years ago to make things quicker.

Transfers Times From Each Bank
. - The Day The Money Transfers In Our Survey Arrived


Online

Day 3. Abbey National
Bank of Scotland
Barclays
Clydesdale
First Direct1
HSBC1
NatWest
The Royal Bank of Scotland
Smile2
Yorkshire Bank

Phone
Day 3. Abbey National
Bank of Scotland
Barclays
Clydesdale
The Co-operative Bank2
First Direct1
HSBC1
NatWest
The Royal Bank of Scotland
Smile2
Yorkshire Bank


Online
Day 4. Cahoot3,4
The Co-operative Bank5
Halifax
IF
Lloyds TSB6
Nationwide6
Woolwich

Phone
Day 4. Alliance & Leicester
Halifax
IF
Woolwich


Online
Day 5. Alliance & Leicester



Notes

1 Transfers between First Direct and HSBC happened on same day
2 Most transfers between The Co-operative Bank and Smile took place on same
day
3 Didn't allow telephone transfers
4 Cahoot to Abbey National transfer arrived on day three
5 Most transfers arrived on fourth day. Some arrived on fifth day
6 Unable to set up phone banking

Phone Banking Problems
Banks would like us to believe that they spend a great deal of time and money
on customer services such as telephone banking. Despite this, the Nationwide
and Lloyds TSB customers in our survey had great problems setting up phone
banking facilities. They tried for several weeks, making numerous phone calls
to the banks, but it proved too difficult. In the end, we weren't able to
include these companies in our investigation.

Same-day transfers
If you can't wait a few days to transfer money, it is possible to do it on the
same day, but only if you're prepared to pay.

Banks typically charge around Ł20 for a same-day transfer (via a system known
as Chaps). Alliance & Leicester and Woolwich charge the most, at Ł25 for each
Chaps payment. Most banks will also let you clear a cheque on the day it's
paid in for a price. They charge Ł10 to Ł15 for 'special presentation' of a
cheque. If you're keen to make sure that your regular payments arrive on the
day they leave your account, set up a direct debit. With direct debits, unlike
standing orders or one-off transfers, the money reaches the recipient on the
day it leaves your account.

Paying by cheque
Transfers made electronically - by phone, internet, or standing order - might
be slow, but they're often quicker than waiting for a cheque to clear. You
won't normally start earning interest on any cheque you've paid in until at
least day three, and your bank won't normally let you access the money until
the fourth day (see 'The Cheque's in the Post', for a description of the
lengthy cheque-clearing process).

The cheque-clearing process could be speeded up if banks dealt with bounced
cheques more speedily and efficiently. Under the current system, they have to
wait until day five to be absolutely sure a cheque isn't going to bounce, even
though few cheques actually do. To make things quicker, they could use phone,
fax or email, rather than post, to notify other banks when a cheque bounces.

Cheque mate
The slow cheque-clearing system can sometimes have its advantages. With
electronic transfers, there's at least a two-day delay between the money
leaving your account and arriving at its destination. During this time, the
banks are earning interest on your cash. When you pay by cheque, though, the
money stays in your account until it's reached the recipient's account, so you
carry on earning interest for longer. This could be useful if you're paying a
non-urgent bill, for example.

The Cheque's in the Post
So what happens when you write a cheque? Follow this example, where Pete
writes you a cheque for Ł100 that you pay into your bank on Monday morning.



Day One - Monday
At the end of Monday, your bank sends the cheque to its clearing centre.
The cheque information is then processed and the details are sent
electronically
to the clearing centre at Pete's bank.



Day Two - Tuesday
The paper cheque itself is sent by courier from your bank's clearing centre
to a central exchange where it's physically handed over to Pete's bank.



Day Three - Wednesday
Pete's bank checks whether there is enough money in Pete's account. If there
is, it
simultaneously pays the Ł100 into your account and debits Pete's account.
Your bank probably won't let you withdraw the money yet but it will probably
'clear it for
value'. This means that you'll start to earn interest on it.
If there isn't enough money in Pete's account, his bank will bounce the cheque
- by
sending the cheque to your bank by first-class post, so it arrives on day
four, Thursday.



Day Four - Thursday
Your bank will hear from Pete's bank only if the cheque has bounced. It hears
nothing if
the payment goes through. Most banks will let you withdraw your money today.



Day Five - Friday
The decision to bounce a cheque may be delayed, so your bank may not find out
until
day five. As a result, some banks won't let you withdraw your money until
Friday.



Our Verdict
We're disappointed that, since we last investigated cheques and electronic
transfers in June 2000, nothing has been done to speed up the processes,
despite promises from the banks.

The Cruickshank Report, commissioned by the government in 1998, concluded that
electronic money transfers were too slow, and recommended that the government
set up an independent payment systems regulator to address this issue.

Unfortunately, this hasn't happened.

The government should act on the recommendations of its own report and force
the banks to make improvements. If banks updated their systems, they could
implement same-day transfers for all their customers, without making extra
charges. Consumers shouldn't have to pay Ł20 or more for something that could
be done at the touch of a button.

The banks should also develop a quicker way to send bounced cheques back, so
they wouldn't end up denying customers access to money they've paid in.

We will continue to press for speedier payment systems, and will keep you
informed of any changes. If you're unhappy with the time it takes to make
payments then write with your concerns to Dept MN, PO BOX44, Hertford SG14
1SH.


(zrodlo: which? online, june 2003)

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