

Ask HN: Why do automated bank transfers take X "business" days? - MicahWedemeyer

I'm fighting with a transfer to an Amazon account from my bank, and it frustrates the hell out of me that it takes "5-7 business days". I initiated the transfer almost a week ago, and it's almost 5pm on a Friday, meaning it probably won't complete until next week.<p>Ok, I can understand that it has to take a little time, but the "A" in ACH stands for Automated. Why does a computer care whether it's Tuesday at 9am or Sunday at 1130pm? Execute the transfer and mark it complete. Case closed.<p>It just seems ridiculous to me that automated transfers are restricted by business days/hours, and the overall slow speed in general irritates the crap out of me.
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ig1
Doesn't happen in the UK anymore, since 2008 most UK banks have been part of
the "Faster Payments Service" which means interbank transfers generally happen
within 2 hours.

At the time it happened banks considered charging for the new faster service
as it meant they would lose out on the interest they would otherwise earn from
the slower transfer. So I'm guessing that's the same reason US banks are
reluctant for faster transfers.

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jolan
Most banks pool their ACH transfers at the end of a business day. Then the ACH
tabulates the transfers for the day and sends them to the destination bank.

There is usually a hold when receiving funds for "security reasons".

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wmf
Previous rant on this topic: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=949027>

Unfortunately, we didn't come up with any good answers.

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brk
An ACH is basically an electronic check. Like a check it has to be routed
through a Fed bank on its path to clearing, and it can also be stopped like a
real check.

A wire is more instant (usually less than 24 hours), more direct, and more
expensive. A wire cannot be recalled by the sender without agreement by the
recipient.

