| By Jim Bruene on March 12, 2009 5:32 PM | Comments (1) |
Financial institutions vary considerably in how easy they make it to move money in and out of bank accounts.
On the one extreme is U.S. Bank, which still requires a retail customers to visit a branch to initiate an electronic payment (note 1). Plus, if you come in after the wire transfer deadline, 2 PM I believe, you can set it up to go out the next day, but you still have to call back and reconfirm before 2 PM the following day. When asked why they needed a phone call after I've already appeared in person, shown my ID, and signed multiple documents authorizing the transfer, they responded in all seriousness, "to make sure you are still alive."
Then there's University of Wisconsin Credit Union, who not only assumes its members are alive, but also wants to keep them satisfied.
The credit union's novel Money Link service allows anyone to send money to a UW CU member via an email-enabled system similar to PayPal but free of any fees and branded by the CU. The service can also be accessed via UW CU's mobile banking.
Transfers from outsiders take 3-4 days for the ACH items to clear. But member-to-member transfers occur in real time. It's a great way for students to get money from mom and dad in time to thwart that Monday morning overdraft.
The CU also supports full inter-institutional account-to-account transfers online. There is no cost to move money into UW CU, but there is a $2 fee for outgoing transfers.
Members who can't wait for the 3 to 4 days for an ACH to clear, can elect the the Express Service that offers one-day turnaround for $10. The Express service has a $2,000 limit where the Standard Service can be used up to $10,000 (see inset).
Bottom line: This is the type of transfer service most consumers expect from their bank or credit union. It's amazing that it's still not supported at many financial institutions, including some of the majors.
Note:
1. Referring to wire transfers here initiated in the Seattle area. There could be other procedures in other areas of the bank's footprint. Also, customers can CheckFree-powered online bill pay to pay any U.S. resident or business within 5 days.
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At least one of the major bill payment providers allows you to set up a personal bank account as a payee. If you provide the routing and transit number with an account number, the bill pay provider will deliver the payment to the recipient in two days or less. So if I bank at AmTrust in Ohio and want to send money to my Wells Fargo account, I can set up a payment to my Wells Fargo account and my Wells Fargo account will be credited with in two business days.