# Why does it take so long to transfer funds from one bank account to another? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 16, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-long-to-transfer-funds-from-one-bank-account-to-another/757548 "2016-06-16T18:34:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-long-to-transfer-funds-from-one-bank-account-to-another/757548/21 "2016-06-17T23:53:16Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > If I want to electronically transfer funds from one bank account to another, it typically takes 3-5 days for the funds to show up on the recipient account. > > But if I’m at an ATM, I can withdraw cash from one bank and deposit it right into the other account and that happens immediately. > > I guess the two go through separate backend pathways? But why can’t they just make the electronic method equally fast? Typically ?not here. free inter-bank transactions overnight here. Here in Australia I can be confident its max 24 hours if the start and finish are business hours monday to friday, and its started in the morning… They do the bank to bank transaction instruction passing around lunch time and afternoon and then update the customers accounts overnight… so if I do the transfer at 9am monday, then its the recipient can see it confirmed in their bank account , eg able to withdraw it as cash, sometime after the early hours of tuesday morning…maybe delayed sometimes, but by lunch tuesday at the latest. So I guess that confirms that the banks can reasonably do the transfer overnight at the slowest, but if they are all in a cartel that agrees to charge $30 for it, that does sound like a good reason why… here in Australia the bank fees had to reflect actual cost, on average. There’s been class actions (plaintiff being the banks customers) recovering fees the bank charged above actual costs. Some of the banks were imposing a cost recover scheme where they would give 10 free transactions, but thereafter the fee per transaction quickly recovered the costs of 50 transactions…meaning that on average there were no free transactions… ah no there has to be free transactions … the average transaction charge has to reflect the cost … not the ability to be profitable… There’s all sorts of fees and penalties that got into this class action, but thats the general gyst of it. ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-long-to-transfer-funds-from-one-bank-account-to-another/757548/22 "2016-06-18T07:37:59Z")
I bank at a Savings & Loan. I’m not enough of a financial expert to say what the difference between this and a “real bank” is except that I used to deposit with a big bank and hated the way I was treated. (This is the US.) My S&L clears deposits instantly, with very few exceptions. I’m not sure what would happen if the checks ever bounced, but there have been occasions when I’ve deposited say 20K and I could have walked out with that amount in cash if I’d wanted to. I could go on but TL;DR look for a local savings and loan. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-long-to-transfer-funds-from-one-bank-account-to-another/757548/23 "2016-06-18T17:29:20Z")
Banks send and receive transactions via the ACH network once a day. Mine does it at 3pm. Not sure if that is a universal time, or just the one we chose. So if you send funds via ACH before your bank’s cutoff on Monday, they will leave your bank at 3pm Monday. They will arrive at the other bank at their cutoff on Tuesday (probably around 3-5 pm). That bank may post the deposit by Wednesday morning if they are large and sufficiently well-staffed, but may take longer depending on staffing rules, their internal policy, and whether the transaction appears to be suspicious/is over a certain amount. Our Cash Mgmt dept works until 6pm in my bank, so there’s a chance that such a deposit (even absent any suspicious factors) may not be posted until Thursday morning. If you want your funds to move faster, you need to wire them. Wires travel via the SWIFT network and will post to the other bank same-day if submitted prior to the bank’s cutoff time (for us, again, this is 3pm). ACH is slower because it’s cheaper. At my bank, it costs $35 to send a wire-of any amount-and $15 to receive a wire. > [@Anaamika](#): > > It takes TEN GODDAMN DAYS. I deposited two checks totaling $10000. $5000 of it was available to me after 5 days. The other $5000 I had to take another five days. What in the ever loving…? You have the routing numbers, the bank account, everything. At the most it should take ONE business day. ONE. This is fraud prevention, and has nothing to do with the ACH network ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-long-to-transfer-funds-from-one-bank-account-to-another/757548/24 "2016-06-18T17:39:28Z")
Just to give a Canadian data point - if I transfer funds between my TD Canada Trust and my Tangerine (formerly called ING Direct) bank accounts the transfer shows up in the destination bank account late in the afternoon (4ish) of the next business day, assuming I request the transfer early enough in the day (I haven’t bothered to experiment to find the cutoff time). Interestingly, if I transfer money to Tangerine it gets frozen for 5 business days (I can see it in my Tangerine account and it collects interest, but I can’t do anything with it); however I have never had TD freeze my money when I transfer to TD (there may be a limit, but it is above several hundred dollars). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-long-to-transfer-funds-from-one-bank-account-to-another/757548/25 "2016-06-18T21:08:07Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > It takes TEN GODDAMN DAYS. I deposited two checks totaling $10000. $5000 of it was available to me after 5 days. The other $5000 I had to take another five days. What in the ever loving…? You have the routing numbers, the bank account, everything. At the most it should take ONE business day. ONE. Many fraudulent cashiers (and other) checks out there. ---
**Author:** ![Kedikat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed655f/32.png) [@Kedikat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kedikat)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-long-to-transfer-funds-from-one-bank-account-to-another/757548/26 "2016-06-18T21:09:09Z")
I often suspect that some institutions hold the money for the maximum amount of time, regardless of the actual time. But immediately add it to one of their own accounts that can earn them some money in the meantime. On a large scale, this might make them some sizeable free money. But as someone mentioned. The electronic transfer system is surprisingly archaic and muddled. Also skimming off charges along the way. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-long-to-transfer-funds-from-one-bank-account-to-another/757548/27 "2016-06-18T21:09:10Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > The answer is in the complexities of the clearance system. > > [http://www.cba.ca/en/consumer-information/40-banking-basics/584-cheques-what-you-need-to-know](http://www.cba.ca/en/consumer-information/40-banking-basics/584-cheques-what-you-need-to-know) > > The essence: until the first institution verifies that the transaction is legitimate, if it gives you the money, it takes the risk. Verification can take a few days. In most cases, for small amounts the bank will take the risk. If the amount is large, it will refuse to take the risk and make you wait. > > . Correct! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-so-long-to-transfer-funds-from-one-bank-account-to-another/757548.md?page=1)