I have been puzzled for some time now as to why online bill payments, which are handled by computers, seem to still be limited by the traditional Monday-Friday, 9-5 work week.
I mean, if I buy something with my debit card–on any day of the week–I can come home, log into my online banking account, and see that the transaction has already been posted. This is also true when make an online purchase. I can see the transaction on my online banking account almost instantly.
But if I decide to pay a bill online, directly from my bank account (as opposed to the debit card), at any time after 5:00 PM on Friday, or I pay on Saturday or Sunday, it sometimes takes several days for the amount to be posted to my bank account, to the point that I think I may just as well have mailed them a check. Whereas if I wait until Monday to pay it, it posts almost immediately.
I would guess it’s because banks typically still run on daily cycles. So what happens to me with my bank is that I use my debit card on say… a Saturday evening. The vendor is paid, the charge is posted to my bank, and it sits there until the next cycle- which is usually on Monday. Then it actually hits the bank account. My bank will automatically debit my “available” money on Sunday night, but the actual balance doesn’t officially change until the charge actually posts.
While online bill payments seem like they could be faster (and probably could be) there will always be some delay.
That is because each step in the process needs to be certain they have the money before moving it along to the next step.
Approval for a transaction is not the same thing as actually having the money in your account. If you sell to Person-A a query is made to their credit card or bank asking if Person-A has the money for the transaction. You get a response that they do and you make the sale. But, that does not mean the money is instantly in your account even if it was instantly approved.
There are scams out there that try to exploit this delay so as a result, in some cases, things will take a while as each party in the process ensures they have the cash before allowing the money to be moved to the next step.
In the case of most credit card transactions the credit company assumes this risk which is, in part, why their rates are so high along with fees to the merchant.
There’s no reason why it can’t show the debit to your account immediately. If I make an online bill payment the money is gone immediately regardless of which day it is. I assume it may not get processed by the receiver until there’s someone in an office somewhere, so I make sure I pay early enough to account for any weekends and so on, but it is always gone from my account the moment I enter the transaction.
Gone from your account is not the same is in the recipient’s account.
People can reverse charges or double-pay (e.g. they make two transactions in quick succession before their account can register that there is no money to cover the purchase). Lots of scams out there so, the recipient wants to know the money is truly in their account before proceeding.
This was a reason for Bitcoin. Money transfers overseas was slow and expensive (fees). In theory bitcoin would remove those barriers. But, even there, bitcoin recipients (the savvy ones) will wait some time to ensure the bitcoin is truly in their wallet even though it may seem it is there almost instantly.
Some payment systems, to avoid this, are not reversible. IIRC Zelle and Venmo are one way. Once you send the money it is gone. You cannot reverse the charges or claim a mistake. You’d better be sure you are sending to the correct person or you could be SOL. I think PayPal used to have problems with people buying something and then reversing the charge and PayPal really didn’t want to deal with arbitrating those things.
That’s not the impression I got. He said it is not “posted”. I interpreted that as showing up in his account as pending but the transaction has not completed i.e. posted.
OP, do you mean the transaction does not show up at all? Or that it shows up but is pending for a few days meaning the money hasn’t been transferred?
Consumers love payment apps like Zelle because they’re free, fast and convenient. Created in 2017 by America’s largest banks to enable instant digital money transfers, Zelle comes embedded in banking apps and is now by far the country’s most widely used money transfer service. Last year, people sent $490 billion through Zelle, compared with $230 billion through Venmo, its closest rival.
Zelle’s immediacy has also made it a favorite of fraudsters. Other types of bank transfers or transactions involving payment cards typically take at least a day to clear. But once crooks scare or trick victims into handing over money via Zelle, they can siphon away thousands of dollars in seconds. There’s no way for customers — and in many cases, the banks themselves — to retrieve the money.
I probably used the wrong term. I mean it doesn’t even show up as “pending”.
I just looked at my online banking page, and spotted a “Send money with Zelle” link that I hadn’t noticed before. But I don’t know if the bank is also using that for regular bill payment. My bank recently did a makeover on the online banking pages, and I don’t know if Zelle came with the change, or if they’ve been using it all along. I’ll have to ask them.
I’ve been with the same small, local bank for 25+ years, and have been paying bills online for 10 years. The delay has been going on since well before the makeover.
The delay seems mainly to apply to payments I make using my bank account number. My bank told me that was more secure than paying with my debit card, after a couple instances of my debit card number getting jacked.