How can EFT take 6 days?

Adsense payment from Google to bank a/c

[Wonderstuff]

Hello Everyone

I've just had my first bank statement since my Adsense payments went from cheque (check) to EFT. Money left google on 25th May, and arrived in my bank account on the 31st May.

Where has the money been for 6 days?

[phantombookman]

Held by your clearing bank, it is worth many millions a year holding funds for a few days before clearing them

[Wonderstuff]

Thanks Phantombookman

I guess I could live with clearing when there was a physical check being processed by people. But this is an electronic transaction and could be cleared in an instant. It's well known that Google is in the black, so what's to do?

6 days day though, for a check in the same currency.

[andrea99]

Complain to your bank, complain to Google. Ask them both in an insistent way, "how can I make an official complaint?"

Contact banking regulators in your jurisdiction, ask the same question. Write your elected representatives.

[marcel]

Not sure which country you are from. But I know in the Netherlands, even if you walk into a Branch of your own bank and deposit cash into your account it can take up to three or four days before you see it in your account.

Thus making a nice profit of a few cents on the interest you should have got, or the interest you have to pay if your account is in the red at the time.

<sarcasm>Funny though, if you withdraw cash, you pay interest from the day you take it...</sarcasm>

[europeforvisitors]

I get direct deposits and wire transfers from vendors on three continents, and the clearing time varies from almost none to nearly two weeks. That's just the way the system works, so I live with it. In the end, it doesn't matter that much, and EFT is still more efficient than waiting for a paper check, taking it to the bank, and waiting for it to clear.

[phantombookman]

In the UK (may be the same elsewhere) banks are obliged by law to hold a set minimum percentage of their customers deposits at all times. This will often lead to banks having to borrow large sums for a day or a weekend etc in order to meet this obligation.

The practice of 'clearing funds' allows them not only to gain interest but also helps minimise the need for borrowing to meet the above.
It is worth a huge amount a year, hence their reluctance to change.

The technology is there and working, look at people who recive their wages by bacs. Sent by the company mid-morning and available in your account by lunchtime!