It must be delightful for the banks to be able to get away with taking 4 days to clear a cheque. The interest that they earn on the money in the meantime must be significant. However there is some slight justification for cheque clearance delays, in the UK at least, the cheque seems to have to be physically returned to the bank of the person who wrote it.
Much, much worse is taking 3 days to make an electronic transfer. I suppose they probably write them out on paper and send them to the issuing branch as well.
This really shouldn’t be allowed in the 21st century, but maybe everyone will switch to paypal for immediate transactions?
I totally agree with the fact that it takes ages for you to pay by wire.
1st day set up the transfer.
2nd day set it rolling.
Then wait 2-5 working days for the other end to get the money and send your product that you had ordered.
Banks no longer have to return cheques to the originating branch. That law was
repealed in 1995.