Eli5: why does it still take 2 business days for a check to clear when other transactions are instant?
In: 146
The other answers are hilarious, they seem to suggest it’s a law of physics that cheques take days to clear.
Here in the UK, I can use the banking app on my ‘phone to take a photo of the front and back of the cheque and it’s in my account the same day.
So the real reason is your banks haven’t invested in the technology to make it faster (and cheaper for them, idiots).
Twenty years ago I would have also said that they make money from the delay, but that really isn’t true anymore with interest rates still very low.
Latest Answers