It looks like the 5 day wait for money to transfer between banks might finally be on the way out, in plans to be unveiled next month, according to The Telegraph.
The Sunday Telegraph has learned that banks will promise two-hour clearing, although some have hinted that their customers may get an even speedier service.
The banks have had pressure put on them by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) since an investigation back in May, although this particular problem has been under scrutiny for a few years.
Certainly, any increase in the speed is to be welcomed, and for it to come down to between 15 minutes and 2 hours, which some banks are suggesting, would be marvellous. I’m sure this would be welcomed by both individuals and businesses. Not sure how keen the banks will be about doing it though, as they will miss ot on the charges they make for people becoming overdrawn, often caused by payments taking time to reach their banks.
It’s also worth noting that this will not relate to payments by cheque (which now account for less than 10% of retail transactions), and is likely to take another couple of years to introduce.