I paid a bill by eCheck over the phone that was due in 3 days. The money was withdrawn from my account 7 days later. Am I right in thinking that my payment was considered 4 days late? If that's the case, do bank drafts work the same way?

If you called the company to which payment is to be made, they should have recorded the payment on that day. When they draft the charge after that is up to them and their system. You however should be paid current in their system. I have the same situation with one of my monthly payments though I do mine online as opposed to by phone.

Call the banking institution and ask them when the money is taken.
Is it when you submit the check to be paid? If so, is there a cutoff time?

My CU has a 2:PM cutoff, so if I send a check after 2:PM, it will not "cut" until the next business day, and that is the day it is mailed, as well as when the funds are debited from my account.

I can see the history from both the eCheck and my CU account that the timing is near instant.


Some may not deduct funds until the check is presented by the recipient, but I think that is likely a very rare thing.

I can also lookup the actual photocopy of the check and see how/when/where it was processed and the financial information on when it was cut, mailed, delivered and paid. This helps resolve issues on payment issues. (have had it occur a couple of times)

(This info for anyone doing eCheck/Electronic payments, find out how it works for you)

In your situation, do you have record of the time/date/who you spoke to and "confirmation number" that did the eCheck request on your behalf? That should be your "proof" and have the details. And your phone should have the date time you called them. And they should have told you if there would be a "transaction time" waiting for the check, rather than noting your account paid at the time of the call, and offer to accept credit card payment to "pay now", if the delay would cause you to be late, or incur additional late fees.

I have no problem calling someone a liar, if the company tries to back pedal on you and claim different facts.

YMMV

I called in the payment on the 3rd. My bank shows the 10th for both the transaction date and posted date. I'll be making some phone calls on Tuesday. Thanks guys.

I pay my bills electronically all the time. The bill pay system will automatically send the money directly to the company if they are in the database - if not, they schedule and send a check so that it should arrive on or before the date specified as the pay date.

The only time I had a problem was when my HVAC payment processor was changed - to a BANK that was only commercial but was moving into residential accounts. Their bills reached me so late that there was no way to schedule the e-check to arrive by the intended date! There were other problems with that bank (the notification that the loan was now being serviced by them, lack of real notification, etc.) that were enough for me to take a part of my retirement lump sum over and paid it off two days after I had received the distribution.

The loan was originally through my local utility - I spent a bit of time on the phone and email letting them know of the less-than-professional way the new bank took over things (I did get a note from the utility that it would be happening - not their fault).

If you have a bill pay method at your banking institution (bank or credit union), use it to schedule e-checks as soon as possible as there might be a delay. I've never called to have a check sent, and wouldn't know how to do it!

quote:

Some may not deduct funds until the check is presented by the recipient, but I think that is likely a very rare thing.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Mine works this way. I did have to complain that the bank was taking advantage of the float. A manager corrected it and now it is debited when the check clears often weeks later.

I think y’all may be talking about two different things. It sounds to me like the OP paid his creditor over the phone with an “eCheck”, meaning he gave the creditor his check info- bank routing number and his account number. In this case his creditor should give him immediate credit for the payment, so his payment will not be late. That creditor then submits the information for payment, typically through the ACH, but they may actually print a paper check with the info and deposit it, perhaps electronically. Regardless, it can take a few days to hit the payer’s bank and clear. Thus the funds stay in the payer’s bank for several days after the payment using an “eCheck” was made.

There is a different service that banks offer, with which the payer initiates the payment through his bank, giving his bank the payee’s info and the amount to be paid. In this case the bank will immediately remove the funds from the payer’s account, and then submit the payment to the payee. This could be through the ACH, but they may just print and mail a check to the payee.

I use Chase, and they call it “bill pay”. I have used it a couple of times when buying guns from forum members. I give Chase the seller’s name, address, and amount, and they send a check after immediately pulling the funds from my account. I haven’t actually seen one of these, but I suspect it may look like a Chase official check with me as the remitter. It is actually a Chase check, as it doesn’t come back to my account. Of course I’ve disclosed this and done it with the sellers’ permission, and have never had an issue.

I also make “ePayments” to credit card companies, utilities, etc., but these are not technically “eChecks” because they are handled strictly through the ACH system with no pretense of there being any kind of a “check”.

Alway complicated with banks. Mine is called Bill Pay and the funds are withdrawn when the recipient cashes the check, not before.

There's a term you want to read about called "legal float". We quit all business with CitiBank because they paid our mortgage WAY late and when I stopped to talked to the branch manager, she said "read the fine print about legal float" and wouldn't even write a letter showing the $$ left our account on the 30th (the date it was to be paid). It was considered late by the 15th and they delivered the check on the 17th.

So, yeah, fuck CitiBank. Seems they make a habit out of withdrawing customer funds and using them in the aggregate to make themselves $$ using that capital (since they hadn't paid the bill and were using our cash for free for 18 days of a 30 day month).

Also...read the fine print with your bank and eBill Pay services. We use Navy Federal now and they always pay on time albeit US Mail delays are out of their control (they mail generally 2-days ahead of due date).

Another thing to remember about eChecks. There is some protection with mailing a counter check from your bank via USPS (i.e. postal inspectors) if you mail a hard check for gun parts let's say. If you use an eCheck, it's wire fraud on the other end vs. mail fraud if the seller doesn't deliver.

quote:

If you use an eCheck, it's wire fraud on the other end vs. mail fraud if the seller doesn't deliver.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ok what is the differnce between the two?

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:

quote:

If you use an eCheck, it's wire fraud on the other end vs. mail fraud if the seller doesn't deliver.

^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ok what is the differnce between the two?

Postal Inspectors will get involved in one. The other is a federal charge still but have to go through other channels and the amount may not be enough to get LE interested so left with filing suit (should be a criminal charge but...)

I really wouldn't sweat it unless you get dinged a late fee. Then you can call them and righteously be angry in that you called them 3 days before it was due. It's not your fault that their system is slow. They have records that time stamp when your information was given.

I used to do this on a routine basis when I was mailing paper checks and the checks were processed late either because I cut it too close or it didn't get there on time. Now, to do less work, I just set up autopay usually from the biller's app or website so that they take the payment on the due date.

quote:

Postal Inspectors will get involved in one. The other is a federal charge still but have to go through other channels and the amount may not be enough to get LE interested so left with filing suit (should be a criminal charge but...)
 
Posts: 2653 | Registered: December 21, 2014

^^^^^^^^^^
Thanks