Bank of America Check Pending Question.

I'd rather stuff my $$$ in a mattress than bank with BofA . . .

:(

If you look at the bank policies you were given when you opened the account I'm sure it will spell out their 'funds availability' policy. I believe our bank's policy is based on what bank the check was cut from and whether the bank is local. Don't quote me but I think it can take anywhere from 1-3 days for our bank.

I also believe that all direct deposit funds are available immediately. So if it was your paycheck maybe you'd like to switch to direct deposit so all funds are available on payday.

J.:

Due to regulatory permissions they can hold a check up to five (5) business days. Call the 800 on the back of your debit card and find out when the release will be lifted.

I would also talk with them about being negative and in the hole with them. Make sure you tell them you didn't see a pending balance or a note on your deposit stating a portion of the funds would be held for x amount of days.

If it's a paycheck? I would start auto or direct deposit so you won't have these problems in the future.

I don't deal with BOA, they're the absolute worst. These are general banking rules that are fairly consistent within the banking industry.

Most banks will release the funds for a payroll check the following business day. However, they need to know it's a payroll check, which doesn't appear to be the case.

Also, is it an in state or out of state check? It's very rare that an in-state check will take more than 2 business days. An out of state check can take up to 5 business days.

How can you not care about an overdraft fee? If you don't have enough money in your account to pay your bills on time, you don't have $30 to give away to the bank. Not to mention the damage to your credit score and reputation with the company who has to deal with the bounced check.

I loved Commercial Federal Bank. They had instant credit on deposits. I never had a bounced check the whole time I was there.

If you get paid with an actual check you can go to the bank the check is drafted from and cash it then take it to your bank and deposit it. Or you can try having an account at the same bank. I would ask first about the holding it though. They may still do that.

I always did the actual check. That cleared up so many issues. That's what I do now with my small business. If I can I take the checks I am paid with and go directly to their bank and cash the ones from that bank. It gives me the cash instantly.

Call B of A customer service!

Usually a normal payroll check is released the next banking day. You can look up Reg CC if you want all the laws on checking deposits.

Only cash goes in with no hold what so ever. Most checks are held until close of business, some are held two days if they suspect they may not clear. Larger checks, above 5,000 can be held a week but again only if there is a reason to suspect they may not clear.

When I banked with B of A if they placed an extended hold on a check that resulted in overdraft fees they always refunded the fees. Thing is to get that perk they had to place the hold after you left or in other words you were not notified at the time of the transaction. Otherwise you knew about the hold and if you risked an overdraft you have no one to blame but yourself. Your receipt will clearly say when the hold is released, if there is no date it is close of business.

We use BOA for most of our business accounts and all personal.

We like BOA and we have been with them over 20 years and with Chase. We've never had any issues at all but maybe that is because we carry the accounts which have no fees whatsoever and we have a few perks.

Do Not let a check bounce... not only will it cost you by the bank and the merchant, you will hurt your credit rating.

You can go in and speak with one of the bankers and they can manage to get a release of the funds. Typically the hold is up to 12 days. I know this because I deposit some very large sums from our customers into our business account and occasionally if a check is drawn on a relatively unknown bank, then BOA will put a hold on the check to make sure funds clear that bank first.

Another way to check for yourself is to call the 800# and ask for your "total collected balance" and they can tell you if it has cleared and release the funds. Typically for us the holds are on checks over $50,000 but I do know they get tight with rules sometimes. We rarely have any holds anymore because the balances can cover whatever is there with the business. It is true if you go to the bank where the check is drawn, they can give you the cash on the spot then you go make your deposit. That does not work for our business though because the checks are too large.

Do you have overdraf protection? Link your account to a savaings, etc and then you have no worries with overdraft. We've never had an overdraft but we signed up for protection just in case there was some bank error sometime. We would not error on that because I am online daily with reconciliations.

Good luck.

I'm not sure about when BOA will release the funds (I hate them - PNC is great!), but don't let them charge you overdraft fees. Call them and they will probably reduce or remove those fees. Especially if they can tell you have the money in your account.

They usually release it the following business day but it can depend on the type of check. If you log into online banking I think it will tell you when the hold is supposed to be taken off the remaining amount of the check but I can't remember for sure.