Comments on: Banking 101: Deposit Account Holds

By: Robin

Robin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:20:07 +0000

For a small business this holds on deposits can destroy you. I’ve now been with the same bank 7yrs,since day one ive been depositing every Friday a check from the same customer between $22,000 to $40,000.Never once has there been a problem with clearing imediatly.Now my bank releases $4900 in 2 days and the rest after 7 days. What happens with the accounts that are automatic from the ckg acct. (INSURANCE,PAYROLL wkly,PHONE for computer,ELECTRIC etc)
I feel this is unfair. If you dont pay employees ,taxes,child support,garnishments on and on, we are sued, or need a huge deposit to have autopayment again. Where do we go? Banks advertise there there for the small business to meet our needs. Where are you?

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 04:20:47 +0000

I just discovered by going online after receiving a letter with over $200 in return check fees that my credit union put a hold on a check from my 401k, however, I never received notification that they were going to put it on hold and based on the regulation they never should have placed it on hold. Since they are required to notify me of the hold do I have any recourse if they refuse to credit back the fees. Its bad enough I am now going to have to call the companies I wrote the checks to to have them attempt a redeposit and ask them to remove the returned check fees they are charging me.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:51:07 +0000

Yep, holds on checks are so frustrating….I’m starting to wish checks would just disappear into oblivion. I hate waiting for them to be deposited (probably because I’m not great at remembering to balance my check book), and I hate that it takes a few days sometimes for deposited checks to actually process and be posted to my bank account. I hope that one day things are more instant, like money transfers from my savings to checking account (it’s because it’s with the same bank).

By: Kristy

Kristy — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:08:42 +0000

@ Dawn – I think it’s harder for those folks whose credit unions have started doing this because it has never been done before and most people expect their credit unions to be lax. Holds on checks are usually expected more from banks. But, the positive is that holds do prevent the credit union from losing money. That’s a plus to you because you’re part owner. It can be frustrating, but sometimes it’s a necessary evil.

@ Fit Wallet – They shouldn’t be placing holds on checks under a $100 and if they are, you should speak to a manager. They’re out of compliance. But, if the personal checks are a large amount, they will likely continue to be cautious for a period of time – usually about six months after an incident, though it could be shorter or longer depending on the institution.

By: Fit Wallet

Fit Wallet — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:33:11 +0000

Thanks for this info–it really clears up a lot for me (sorry, couldn’t resist the bad pun). A couple of months ago, an old debt came back to bite my partner in the butt to the tune of $1,200. We had to pay it right away. Between that and me forgetting to deposit a check on time, our account went into the negative. We’ve been very careful about keeping our balance above $1,000 and often even higher. But since then, EVERY personal check we have deposited has been held for 3 business days–even our rent checks, which we deposit at the same time every month. So yeah, they’re really taking this stuff seriously these days!

By: Dawn

Dawn — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:10:45 +0000

My credit union never used to hold checks. Now I notice that all checks regardless of amount, who they are from, bank they are issued on, etc. are held 2 days before being deposited into my account. Now that I know that it isn’t a problem, but it threw me when they first started doing it.