I remember a couple of years back when I had an account with Wachovia. It was a great bank. Suddenly they started to delay longer to cash my checks. I'd deposit a check and then they would take extra days to make the money available in my account.
The excuses were varied, from "new policy" to "making sure the cash is available from the check's owner account" for a cashier's check (yup, a certified check, can you imagine?).
Well, it is Deja Vu all over again... this time with a different bank.
This time the one that is having the same type of situation seems to be HSBC.
We deposited a check on Thursday night from a different city than where the account resides, using an ATM. The check wasn't that big, a little bit more than $2K.
They made $500 available the next day.
And then on Monday the account showed a negative balance for the amount we deposited on Thursday. The $500 they had made available are now gone as well.
When we called the bank they said that "Security had put a hold on the check" and no more explanations. The hold would last for 5 business days.
An hour later, after listening to stupid excuse after stupid excuse we were finally transferred to a manager who told us it was a policy from Security to make sure the check was correctly funded, to "protect you". Protect me from having my money in my account? wow.
So, it started to sound like Wachovia again, and we all know what happened to Wachovia, right?
Today the excuse has been similar... really obscure... Security put a hold on the check cause they were not sure who had signe the check. When we asked them if the check had funds and the paying bank was OK with it they said yes.
Oh, but now they told us that the money would be available next Monday. That is more than 5 business days ni my books, but hey, they are the bank, I guess they know better, right?
Anyway, still dealing with this issue, and we still don't have the money in the account. And we are in overdraft.
So, again, these are the same symptoms I started noting with Wachovia, well earlier than when they started talking about its demise.
Have you noticed similar behavior from any bank these days?
I wonder if it is time to short HSBC in particular at this time....
The excuses were varied, from "new policy" to "making sure the cash is available from the check's owner account" for a cashier's check (yup, a certified check, can you imagine?).
Well, it is Deja Vu all over again... this time with a different bank.
This time the one that is having the same type of situation seems to be HSBC.
We deposited a check on Thursday night from a different city than where the account resides, using an ATM. The check wasn't that big, a little bit more than $2K.
They made $500 available the next day.
And then on Monday the account showed a negative balance for the amount we deposited on Thursday. The $500 they had made available are now gone as well.
When we called the bank they said that "Security had put a hold on the check" and no more explanations. The hold would last for 5 business days.
An hour later, after listening to stupid excuse after stupid excuse we were finally transferred to a manager who told us it was a policy from Security to make sure the check was correctly funded, to "protect you". Protect me from having my money in my account? wow.
So, it started to sound like Wachovia again, and we all know what happened to Wachovia, right?
Today the excuse has been similar... really obscure... Security put a hold on the check cause they were not sure who had signe the check. When we asked them if the check had funds and the paying bank was OK with it they said yes.
Oh, but now they told us that the money would be available next Monday. That is more than 5 business days ni my books, but hey, they are the bank, I guess they know better, right?
Anyway, still dealing with this issue, and we still don't have the money in the account. And we are in overdraft.
So, again, these are the same symptoms I started noting with Wachovia, well earlier than when they started talking about its demise.
Have you noticed similar behavior from any bank these days?
I wonder if it is time to short HSBC in particular at this time....
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