Repug banks? Well, Repug practices

[AnnInLa]

CONSUMERS LOSE THE FLOAT
You may find your bank account has a lot less liquidity come October, when a new law allows banks to process checks electronically, without waiting for the paper copies to arrive. This means banks will be clearing your checks in hours, not days -- making it a lot harder to write checks based on funds you plan to deposit in a day or two. But banks will have to credit deposits a lot sooner, won't they? No way. Many deposits will still take several days to clear, which could be quite a bonanza in overdraft fees for your friendly neighborhood banker. More at


www.consumeraffairs.com

[Frodo]

1. Deposit times will speed up too once the system is fully operational.

Reg CC will need to be revised, but once the system has been operational for awhile the deposit crediting rules will tighten up as well.

The key timing in this case, however, is how long it takes a BAD check to be returned, NOT how long it takes a good check to pay. Once that time frame tightens up banks won't be able to "hold" your deposit as long.

But we walk before we run.

And if you read your depositor agreement - you're not supposed to write checks against funds that are not in your account. "Playing the float" has always been a dangerous game.