cheque clearance...5 DAYS!!!

I did better....I closed my account,

That's the way to get their attention.  I did that after the escapade over the incorrect withdrawals and charges.  As soon as it was straightened out I transferred everything to another account and wrote a letter to the manager explaining exactly why the bank had lost my custom.

By the way, with regard to Barclays, there was one point some years back at which I was awaiting a new ATM card and thought I'd cash a check (only needed a few pounds extra). 

Even though I produced checkbook, driver license, credit cards, etc. the bank wanted to charge me £5 to cash a check for £10 because it wasn't the branch that held my account.      

"We have to cover the cost of checking your balance," I was told.    The branch which held my account was barely 15 miles away and a local phone call.  And let's face it, I was hardly likely to skip out on the next plane to Rio with £10, was I? 

How bad is it to go into overdraft – not overdrawn? Does it affect your credit in any way?

I’m not used to paying for things by direct debit; in the States I always paid for everything by check. I always balanced my checkbook to the penny. If I received a bill and I knew I wouldn’t have enough mony until my paycheck cleared; I’d hold off on sending the check. This was never a problem as companies usually give you about two weeks to a month to pay a bill before they start charging late fees.

Now that we are paying for a bunch of things by direct debit, I am being driven slightly mad.  We are always running into small overdrafts (£20 to £50) because the bank takes out money for a debit before mine and my husbands paychecks are deposited – sometimes just the day before.  There seems to be no consistency as to when the debits are drawn; if I had an idea, I’d move over some money from my US bank account in advance to cover the payments before we went into overdraft.

There also seems to be no consistency regarding the timing by which the checks we write are paid out. For example, our January rent still hasn’t shown up on our bank statement. I’m sure the cheque was received because my husband hand-delivered it to the building manager, and anyway, if the landlord hadn’t received our rent, I’m sure we would have heard about it. So now whenever I check the balance, I have to mentally subtract the rent and remind my husband to do that as well.

It’s easier to pay for things by direct debit, and I guess the postage for cheque-paying, for companies that don’t supply stamped self-addressed envelopes, is more than the inerest charged on the overdraft, but the red numbers on the bank statement are really starting to get to me.

An overdraft is an amount that you arrange with the bank that you're allowed to dip into.  If you're not being charged-then it's not affecting you.  Just be careful because banks will extend the overdraft and you'll end up owing more and more. 

You can arrange when your direct debits go out.  Contact the company you're paying, they should have different options of when you can pay-end of the month, middle of the month, beginning of the month. 

You can arrange when your direct debits go out.  Contact the company you're paying, they should have different options of when you can pay-end of the month, middle of the month, beginning of the month. 

Or you can do online banking and make your payments online instead of through direct debit. It means you have to actually remember to do it, but it also means you have more control over when your payments go out.

How bad is it to go into overdraft – not overdrawn? Does it affect your credit in any way?

It's not a big deal at all if you don't let it balloon, like Mindy says. I'm pretty much into my overdraft by quite a lot at the end of every month but my pay cheque also clears it up every month so I rarely end up paying interest on it. It's there to be used - as a safeguard of sorts - so it doesn't have any effect on your credit as long as you end up paying it every month....

. I'm pretty much into my overdraft by quite a lot at the end of every month but my pay cheque also clears it up every month so I rarely end up paying interest on it.

Hmm. My bank statement shows a negative balance of £32 (well within the overdraft limit), my husband's pay coming in the next day, my pay coming in a week later, and a couple of days after that "interest charged while account overdrawn".  In the entire month, there was just one £32 overdraft for one day, and we're charged interest.

Hmm. My bank statement shows a negative balance of £32 (well within the overdraft limit), my husband's pay coming in the next day, my pay coming in a week later, and a couple of days after that "interest charged while account overdrawn". In the entire month, there was just one £32 overdraft for one day, and we're charged interest.

You need to check with the bank that you actually have an overdraft.  If you're being charged interest that's being overdrawn.  It's two different things and the bank will not give you an overdraft without agreeing to it first. 

I definitely have an overdraft.  My overdraft amount is on my statement.  In addition, The extra money available shows up in my balance. That is, I get two figures - a current balance with the actual amount, and an available balance with the overdraft added, which is a lot more money.  I am always well within the available balance.

I checked the second page of my statement. I pay interest on my overdraft, but I get a "preferred overdraft rate". I also checked the bank website. If I had actually overdrawn my account I would have paid a big charge - a monthly fee of £20 plus a £30 charge for each item overdrawn - as opposed to the few pence interest  that was deducted.

Then I wouldn't worry about it.  An overdraft is there as a cushion till the paycheck or whatever comes in. 

i just realized that an standing order from my partner's account to our joint account takes 5 days to clear!.  What!  I'm going to have him change the date of his standing order to the 28th of the month... then by the 1 or 2nd it will have cleared and we can pay our stinking bills.  5 days!  what are they kidding at.

the standing order from my bank to our joint account clears same day.  now, my personal account and our joint is in the same bank. 

is this 5 day thing universal from one bank standing order to another bank?  are there some banks that are better with it than others?

I would change your accounts if its only a day I do not get charged, the hsbc and royal bank of scotland are ok.