Seriously why does it take “3 to 5” business days to take the money from my account when it’s all handled electronically?
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If you specify your bank account as the method of payment, then the payment will be processed via the ACH network, which is a batch processing system.
While the ACH network does support same-day processing, it costs more to do this, so most billers just use the overnight option instead. The reason they say 2-3 days to settle is because:
1) The banks may not settle items on the next day because it is the weekend or a holiday, and your bank may not settle ACH items on those days; or
2) The debit to your account is deducted from your account the next day, but your biller doesn’t know 100% for sure the funds are good and that the debit to your account was successful until 3 days later. This is because the bank has up to 2 banking days to reject the transaction for Non-Sufficient-Funds. This is just how the ACH Network system was designed and how the current rules for returning items work.
If you really want the money out of your bank account immediately, just pay with your debit card. Those transactions work on a different payment network, and the process and rules for that network are designed for immediate settlement 24/7/365.
It will cost your billers a lot more to charge you using this network, so billers often prefer to use the ACH network instead. As an example, a biller might pay a nickel or less for an ACH debit to your bank account, whereas a debit card transaction might cost them 10-15 cents per transaction plus a small percentage of the dollar amount debited from your account. ( like .05%). So the biller would have to pay twenty cents on a $100 transaction using a debit card vs. as little as a fraction of a cent to debit your account using the ACH network.
Pay using your credit card, and things get really expensive for the biller. Now, those transactions cost the biller as much as 3% of the amount charged so that you can get your reward points.
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