I've been depositing my check monthly with the Bank of America for the last two years. Every month, they used to take two or three days to give me full credit, whether I deposited the check at my ATM or directly with a teller at the branch. Three months ago, they started putting a hold on the deposit, not allowing me the funds until 11 days had passed. Naturally, some checks I had written, expecting them to clear in a week or so started to bounce.
When I protested online, they responded to my queries by pointing out that they had the right to do so by the agreements I had signed. I agreed but pointed out that they had not followed that practice over the previous two years and to suddenly do so, without notice, was very unfair. Their response was that I was out of luck.
I persisted and did research that showed that they had access to the cleared funds within a day. ( I asked my company to look into this.) Once I showed them proof of this, they reluctantly reversed the $340 in overdraft charges which had accrued in my account. They said that they still had the right to hold the funds, but were reversing the charges as a "courtesy".
On Saturday of last week, I made another deposit directly with a teller and found out that I again would not have access until more than a week would have passed. I asked to see the manager and told her what had happened and she said that if I came back after three days, she would check my deposit to see whether or not it had cleared. After a half an hour on the phone three days later, the bank gave me credit for the funds.
I wonder what other banks policies are on clearing out of state checks. I think it is time to start looking for a new bank.
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