One strange thing about banks is that they maximize their use of your money. I asked at a local branch for a check to my brother that would be absolutely guaranteed to clear immediately, and they said “you want a cashier’s check”. So I got a cashier’s check and Fedexed it to him, and I was very surprised when he called a week later and said they had held it for a week before crediting his account. The entire point was to send a cash equivalent. Which bank was incompetent?
You said — “So I got a cashier’s check and Fedexed it to him, and I was very surprised when he called a week later and said they had held it for a week before crediting his account. The entire point was to send a cash equivalent. Which bank was incompetent?”
Well, yes, a cashier’s check is supposed to be “as good as cash” — but it’s actually not, because of fraud. So, the issuing bank is going to give you their “best instrument” — but the receiving bank is going to apply certain policies on the basis of potential fraud. That’s the way it is.
Here’s an odd one for you. I’ve transferred money from one bank to another by means of a cashier’s check, issued by my one bank, to me — and then deposit it in my other bank. I thought that it would clear faster that way, being a cashier’s check.
Now, the depositing bank (which is Bank of America) will “credit” my account right now (immediately to the minute) when it is deposited but won’t “post it” until after midnight of the present business day, except if it’s on a Friday, for which they won’t post it until the next Tuesday (AM). I still get use of it, in the meantime, though (even over that weekend).
But, I asked them, one time, how I can get it “posted” *now* and not just “deposited” now. They said if it was cash, they could do it. So, the teller offered to cash the cashier’s check and then deposit the cash. Then it would be “posted” immediately (as cash) — even though they were cashing “across the counter” that very same cashier’s check.
And, by the way, I never did see the cash, so they “cashed it” — by means of just writing something different on the paperwork. Otherwise, it was the exact same thing as if I had deposited the cashier’s checked (and in that case, it would not have “posted” until the following Tuesday).
Who knows what they’re doing...
Regards,
Star Traveler
P.S. — I always wonder if one of these days I’m going to go to the bank or ATM or the online banking and find out that they’ve shut down for one reason or another. Maybe there’s a war that just happened that morning and everyone’s bank account is frozen, all of a sudden for a few days. Perhaps I should start socking money under the mattress...