Tired of banks putting a "hold" on checks you deposit? Posted by mitcka at 04/06/05 02:14 PM

Although a new federal law makes it fast and easy for banks to cash the checks we write--we still wait days for access to the money from checks we deposit. That can change with support for the Consumer Checking Account Fairness Act.

Are you waiting too long to get access to your money after you deposit a check? Banks commonly “hold” a deposited check for several days before crediting the money to your account. You could deposit a big check on Friday, write a check later that same day, and have your check bounce because the funds from your deposit aren’t made available to you until Tuesday (for a local check) or much later (for a non-local check). Sean Bonner of Metroblogging and Blogging Without Borders reported a typical experience.

A new federal law (called Check 21) helps banks, savings and loans, and credit unions to process the checks you write faster, but it doesn’t require banks to shorten those inconvenient check holds. Banks don’t even have to count weekends toward the number of days a check is held, even though they clear checks on the weekends.

Ecommerce Journal posted this: So who exactly reaps the benefits from Check 21? Not necessarily consumers. The new law does not require banks to process deposited checks any more quickly than they do now. Thus, consumers will not gain fast access to cash or the ability to pay bills in a timely manner just yet.

A bill has been introduced in Congress (called the Consumer Checking Account Fairness Act) to close these loopholes and to reduce check holds to one or two business days, counting Saturday as a business day. The bill was filed in mid February. Tell your legislators to support this bill!

comments (34)

1 Posted by Vince at 06/01/07 08:28 AM

Bank of The West hold my money too long.

2 Posted by Ann Grodman at 10/16/07 09:01 PM

Are you saying, "banks can LEGALLY *STEAL* MY MONEY FOR SEVERAL DAYS, before I can withdraw any of the money!....THE BANKS HAVE THE MONEY WITHIN 10 SECONDS -AFTER- THE BANK'S TELLER HAS GIVEN BACK TO ME THE -DEPOSIT SLIP!...SO WHY DOES IT TAKE 48+ HOURS WITH HSBC BANK BUT INSTANTLY ACCESSIBILITY WITH CITIBANK!

3 Posted by Kyle at 12/19/07 08:13 PM

My bank is placing a hold on my Christmas bonus check for two weeks, until two days after Christmas. I guess it's more like happy holidays for them.

4 Posted by Lynn at 01/25/08 01:51 PM

I've banked at the same location for eight years. In that time, the bank's been bought twice. First, it was First Commercial, then First Federal, and now Bank of the West. I never had to deal with holds on my deposits until BOTW took over. I deposited a check on Friday afternoon, wrote a check on Sunday, and the check went through before the deposit with a $33 charge for the privilege. GGRRR! I'm going to find another bank.

5 Posted by RICK at 01/30/08 10:33 AM

48 HOURS TRY BANK AMERICA HOLDS CHECKS FOR 10 DAYS FOR AN OUT OF STATE CHECK. WHAT A RIP OFF THEY ARE.

6 Posted by dan at 02/25/08 09:11 AM

i have you all beat, 25k loan from Capital one, my bank is bank of america. after 1 week they "released" 5k, in 2 weeks they will "release" the other 20k. I hope they choke on the intrest they are earning on MY money...after it all clears im looking for another bank!im already paying back the loan and it all hasnt been released yet.........

7 Posted by Oryx at 03/31/08 03:31 PM

Who in Congress does one write and is there a way to track the bill. What happens if the bill is passed and banks still do this? I was recently told I had to wait 10 days for an out of state check, even though Bank of America is a National Bank. I called the bank from which the check was drafted and it cleared the next day! This means that for 9 days, Bank of America used deceptive practices to make a profit off of my money (pretending that it hadn't yet cleared.) Oh yeah, when I called them on this, saying, no the check cleared, they said they have a right to hold checks as part of the Patriot Act or some such rubbish, presumably to make sure I am not sending the money to terrorists. Unless they think American Express is a terrorist organization then I'd like to know how they justified bouncing my check to them after the 10-day hold period and charged me $35.00. I think it's criminal that the banks can do this. I hope Bank of America loses a ton of money in this recession since these greedy practices helped cause it.

8 Posted by Angry Lady at 04/02/08 02:57 PM

BOTW now holds 5 days for first $4900 and 14 (FOURTEEN) days for balance on out-of-state checks. They are allowed to do that because Regulation CC allows them to, provided they don't exceed the maximum timeframe based on the characteristics of the check (e.g., amount, check institution and its location, etc.). They say it's because they are required to, but the truth is they do it because they can. I've been with this bank for about 8 years.

9 Posted by John Crain at 07/30/08 02:29 PM

WAMU holds out of state check for 11 days!!!

THis means they are earning interest on my money, while I can't use the 50k for my house down payment.!!

Crooks!

I would NOT recommend that anyone bank with WAMU

10 Posted by Pissed Off at 08/07/08 03:53 PM

I deposited a 6k check and I won't be able to use it for 15 days! They don't count the day I deposited it or the weekends! I'm getting sick of this does anyone know of a bank that doesn't put long holds on deposits?

11 Posted by brian at 08/16/08 03:30 PM

i just sold a truck i owned, brought my check to my local bank on a saturday witch was a cashiers check from the same town diffrent bank there holding my money for 7 business days so now i have to wait 11 days to purchase another vehicle
boy was i mad.

12 Posted by Sara at 10/04/08 10:37 AM

I deposited a check on 9/22/08 for $2800 in my Bank of America account. They claim that the $2700 hold is until the paying bank cleared the check, which was cleared but they still have a hold until 10/07/08. Now I have to pay an extra $150 in late fess because my rent which was due on the 1st is late.

Will the banks ever be rich enough so they can stop stealing from those who can't afford it?

Thanks for nothing Bank of America!!!!

13 Posted by trina at 10/31/08 02:37 PM

It seems most banks are jumping-on the "screw the consumer" bandwagon. I've known for a long time that Bank of America is a scam-artist. When I purchased a car I used them to finance it. They required me to open a "savings account" with $300 in it (they'll just add this to my loan amount)to get a car loan. Uhm...OK. Whatever. So the years pass and I happen to make a few deposits into that savings account just to have an emergency slush fund. Occasionally I write checks out of that savings account to cover checks in my regular checking account with them.

Finally the day comes when I pay off my vehicle. Never late on one payment. I take some money out of my savings account to pay for home repairs. I know exactly how much I have in savings as I rarely write checks out of it, so I don't bother opening the statements they send every month. About 6 or 7 months after I pay off my car loan, I get a letter from Bank of America saying that my savings account is OVERDRAWN!!!! I open a statement, and see that they've been taking $50 a month from my savings account because you have to have at least $500 in this "type" of savings account if you don't have a car loan with them. So...they bilked $400 from my account, and added a couple hundred more in "fees" for not having this $500. I checked and when I opened my "savings account" they didn't have this $500 limit. They arbitrarily just made this rule one day.

So...read those little booklets you get in the mail that are 30 pages long with tiny, tiny print and written in finance jargon you can never hope to understand very carefully...you know - the ones that come in the mail every three days or so? For each bank account and credit card you have??? (Because we all have SO MUCH TIME to read these...it's not like we are working or busy or anything).

Banks are scam-artists. I am going to go to cash only folks. They are dipping their fingers into the American consumer's pockets every time they can. And if they can't get what they want, they will pick your pocket!!!

It's interesting that if I were to charge someone 31.99% interest on a loan, the federal government would call it "racketeering" and I would go to prison. But the banks can do that and laugh in your face.

What is going on here, people?!?

14 Posted by trina at 10/31/08 02:40 PM

sara:

No, the banks will NEVER be rich enough to stop stealing our money. It's called GREED, and it's reached a new level in this society.

Take your money out of the banks! Cut-up your credit cards! Use cash! Put your cash in a fire proof safe in the floor of your closet. It's safer there than in the stock market or in a bank!!!

15 Posted by mike at 11/08/08 10:31 AM

Washington Mutual holds my deposit for more than 14 days. I deposit an institution check (from my brokerage account), two weeks ago on saturday, until today, it is still on hold, even though the money has long been with the bank. Their risk department "opinion" is very subjective... Is it legal or any part of the law that subject to interpretation?

16 Posted by Steve at 12/08/08 03:53 AM

Banks have too much to lose when it comes to changing this practice. There was a time when banks made money on lending and investing. I would like to know how much the banks make on overdraft fees because of this practice. I can look on-line and see my spending instantly. I would like to find a bank that has the same speed when it comes to availability of funds. It is a scam!

17 Posted by Dave at 12/31/08 11:41 AM

Just happened to me today. I deposited 2 checks in the BoA ATM on sat 12/27. my wife wrote a check from our BoA account to Her Compass account yesterday.

So today I went to use my ATM card and it was declined. I check my balance -$87 the compass check cleared already but my deposits still have a hold on them.

I also love how the banks clear your checks and debits in order from highest to lowest in order to maximize the overdraft fees

18 Posted by Justin at 01/12/09 03:33 PM

I just got a check from a savings acct that I've been putting money into for years to buy a MacBook. I attempted to deposit this check, and was informed that there would be an 11 DAY HOLD ON MY MONEY. This is UNACCEPTABLE. The internet makes communication as fast as thought, but still banks insist on this disgusting process.

19 Posted by jaime at 01/29/09 08:53 AM

I would be happy to write congress!! Bank of America holds all my checks even if I get a check from a customer that is with the same banking institution as mine!! This has been making all my bills late!

20 Posted by unhappy with BofA at 01/31/09 01:36 PM

Friday morning 7AM I deposited 3500 ina bank of america atm in a check from another banking institution. The bank wrote me a check. The bank sent me a refund from an account I closed. I went to the atm at 7AM. I checked Sat AM and it showed online but the available balance had not changed except to be 100 more. Ok...I call. They placed a 5 day hold on that check which is from another federal reserve bank, drawn on that same bank and they have it on hold. When I called, the agent told me they were surprised that they hold was only 5 days because typically it would have been 14 or some such thing. Why do they do that? It isn't like the other bank is going to bounce the check. They clear usually in less than 48 hours. I should have it at least by Monday but I have to wait until Thursday the 5th at 5PM when the hold expires. Great. My rent is due and I move the money. I should have waited till I already paid my rent. My bad I guess.....suckers.

21 Posted by June at 02/17/09 09:35 AM

http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/regcc/regcc.htm

This website shows you Regulation CC (the hold times allowed by FED Reserve). There are some exceptions for holds to be allowed over 5 days, however, it appears that the bank must notify you in writing at the time of depost or within one business day.
If your bank has broke the rules, please report them to the Federal Reserve. You can file a complaint online at
http://www.federalreserveconsumerhelp.gov/?District=13

22 Posted by Kelsey at 03/25/09 11:25 AM

Ok, I am so glad to know I am not alone in this. I bank with Bank of America and Chase. I had an insurance check from Progressive from an accident that I wanted to deposit with all of the verification numbers on it to call for funds verification. I took my check to Chase who would not release funds for 10 days and I decided to take it to Bank of America. I got to BofA and Chase had printed on the back of my check! Had I not been a customer with BofA, they would not have touched it and I would have had to deposit with Chase. BofA DID put a 7 day hold on my check so I called the day after (I had taken all of the numbers off of the check for curiosity sake) and that check had already cleared the other bank! The bank has my money but it is still on hold in my account! Does that sound legal to you? I am livid! I am just waiting for the day when there is one bank and we all have to wait on everything including direct deposit!! They all seem to be merging these days.

23 Posted by Bank Teller at 04/20/09 03:13 PM

I work at a bank. Not all banks have the capability to check availability of funds immediately on a check from another bank. With Check21 it is faster but it can still take two business days at least depending upon the receiving and sending banks and up to 5 days if the two banks are in different federal reserve districts. When the bank takes your deposit and ALLOWS you to withdraw immediately or even the following day, that is a priviledge. Also, the "holds" (Reg CC) are set up to protect both the customer and the bank from financial losses that can occur with money-laundering and kiting. But all banks are required to notify their customers at the time of deposit (if made in person) or within 24 hours (nightdrop,atm, etc) if a hold is placed on a deposit as well as the date the funds will be available.

24 Posted by Ted at 05/20/09 03:03 PM

I'm also glad I'm not alone in this. Wachovia is giving me a run-around you wouldn't believe and it's making me furious. Does anyone know of any banks that actually try to please their customers while ripping them off?

25 Posted by brandy at 06/15/09 01:18 AM

i to have a problem with bank of america ... i got a herinance check from my mother and they told me that i wont be allowed to have my funds intil 4 to 7 days after i deposited and the now there is a hold on it .. they told me that now im in the whole and they wont gave me my funds intil 11 to 12 days after the fact im so sick of bank of america

26 Posted by Gregg at 06/16/09 02:44 PM

I switched to small (1 or 2 locations) credit unions years ago. No Problems after 10 years except finding them.

27 Posted by Dan Thompson at 07/14/09 08:35 AM

I work at a credit union so I know how these holds effect people. If the member does not have a sufficient balance to cover the said check, then there will be a hold on the check. This is to protect YOU and the credit union. If the check is bad, YOU will be eating the losses on that, not the bank (unless it goes into Collections, which happens quite often).

Not to side with the "big bad banks" but I think a lot of people misunderstand the financial industries intentions. If you deposit a check for $10k, and the money is not there, you will be left holding the bag.

I know it's annoying, but holding a check for 10-20 days should not really impact your life. I HOPE you can survive for the next few days without those funds, if you can't then you guys really need to start saving.

Sorry if this comes off harsh, but it's early and I just had to put a hold on a check :)

28 Posted by Melissa at 07/24/09 09:23 AM

I worked at a bank and if you want to avoid having your check held, they the following methods:

1. Keep all of your accounts with one bank. If you have a sizeable balance in a checking acct, savings acct, money market, HSA, line of credit, loan, credit card and any combination of the bunch, then the bank may release your funds.

2. Don't bank hop. The length of your banking relationship helps determine whether or not funds must be held.

3. Get to know your banker, teller, whoever. Be nice. If we can find a legitimate reason not to hold your funds, we won't. This is easier if I know you.

4. Keep consistent balances. Even if you don't regular have $20k in funds to automatically cover the check, it helps if you regularly have a balance of $3k (in any cash account). However, if you have $20 one day and $1300 the next and you're forever bouncing between overdrafts and just barely afloat your case won't be helped any.

5. Banks don't hold local checks as long as out of area checks. If you have any control over where the check is written from, choose somewhere local.

29 Posted by Molly at 08/07/09 05:40 PM

I have banked with WAMU for a couple years now and have always been thrilled w/ their services/policies. My paychecks were never held, and my expenses and bills were always paid in a timely manner.

HOWEVER! Recently WAMU has become Chase and, well, Chase likes to gain interest off of money it didn't work its a** off for. After Google-ing and calling several banks in the interest of switching, I finally had a brilliant idea!

Many banks do not place holds on cash deposits because there is nothing to clear. So I called my bank and they verified that if I go in there and have my check cashed, I can promptly turn around and deposit that cash into my account, which will in turn make the funds available to me IMMEDIATELY. That's right guys-- no more waiting around because of bull sh*t excuses that aren't legit. FINALLY! A loop hole of our own!!

30 Posted by Mad Michelle at 08/13/09 07:28 AM

I bank at a credit union and have for 20 years. I recently deposited an in state check for $7000 on a Saturday and the money won't be available for 10 more days. I had mailed payments to creditors knowing that money would be in my account, but they are bouncing all my checks and charging me $24 for each one. This is ROBBERY! Obviously this is a legal scam that banks can do...it looks like from the other comments this is a common theft by the banks.

31 Posted by newbie78 at 08/15/09 11:02 AM

I have had a similar problem with Wachovia recently. I deposited a check for $9500 on 4th and today is 15th and they have yet to release the funds to my account. They had mentioned earlier that the hold is upto 14th but now they say the hold is till 17th. This is freaking pathetic. They are holding my money and making money of of that because they can and treat me like dog. And for checks more than $5000 bank is supposed to release atleast $5000 to your account in 6 business days if its a local check which it is in my case. They have not done that either. This is a F***ing robbery. And the government is aiding them to do so.

32 Posted by Loquat at 08/19/09 07:16 PM

I completely understand how you all feel regarding this situation. I to was plagued by this happening to me when I deposit larger checks.

I bank with Bank of America and what I've found to work for me (and I don't know if this is procedure) is that when I have a large check that I want to deposit while avoiding the hold...well I split my deposit.

For example. If you have a check for $5000, split it between your checking and savings account, make a $2500 deposit into each from the same check. This CANNOT stop you from doing this and has NEVER placed a hold on the money when splitting the deposit. I don't think they're system allows for such otherwise they probably would place a hold.

So, whenever you find yourself in a situation where you need your money and want to avoid that hold...try splitting your deposit into 2 accounts if you have a checking and savings with the same bank. It has worked for me at Bank of America MANY times...it can't hurt to try next time.

Please post here if anyone tries it and is successful like I am when in this situation.

33 Posted by time at 08/24/09 11:19 AM

I've banked with Kinecta Federal Credit Union for 10 years now. I had a $5700 check to deposit, but called to check hold time prior to depositing. They told me that they will hold my check for two to five business days. I deposited my $5700 check on 8/21. Now $4900 will be on HOLD until 8/28 and the other $800 won't be available until 9/4! I have very important items to pay and deadlines to meet. I am so angry right now.

34 Posted by not important at 08/31/09 08:32 PM

Here's a suggestion, if the check you have is from a local bank go there and cash it. Then deposit cash into your own bank account. You may be charge a fee by the bank the check is drawn on but at least it eliminates the hold time.