<p>When we used Citibank for our accounts, this happened all the time to us. Because we are both self employed our checks are irregular. Sometimes my husband will be paid for several months work at one time. At one point funds were available pretty quickly, but other times it was a week or more before the funds were available. We changed to a locally owned bank and have never had this problem.</p>
<p>I like in-person tellers, especially when I’m depositing large (5-figure) checks so I can be SURE when they will clear & don’t have nasty surprises. It always surprises me how long they can & will hold a check, even if you’ve been a customer for decades at their bank (& sometimes have a lot of money in other accounts with them). Generally, when I’m in-person, they will talk with their supervisor & immediately clear the check to keep good will. (I don’t necessarily need it immediately but like to know & not be surprised).</p>
<p>We have two s one in Europe and on in the US. Both have had checking accounts since being in HS. The key about banking is the banks want to reduce risk. They do honor long term accounts, past deposits and use. We bank at the second largest bank by assets in the US and not have any problems no matter what the size of checks.
When you depo a large check, just ask what the hold policy is and ask if it can be reduced for a specific need.</p>
<p>I find banking easy and have always been able to avoid problems and stop by to visit with the branch manager. Well, I have to listen to new finacial solutions but just say no.</p>
<p>My DD was not allowed to deposit her overage check at all in the ATM. I called my banker to ask, yes I still have an personal banker, and she said there have been changes with deposits thru ATM. The ATM deposit was always a problem and more fraud and deposits made without the checks in the envelopes occured recently causing many ATM operators to stop taking deposits.
My DD had to quickly find a stamp and snail mail it to the bank. The unexpected delay left her without a book or two or a share fee unpaid at the start of school.</p>
<p>You all may want to consider using PayPal if your kid does not use the same bank as you. It’s free and your kid could usually get the money into their acct in 3 business days. I have used it to send money to my niece and nephews for their birthdays. My bank now would actually allow me to transfer money to other banks for free.</p>
<p>We bought a used car recently & had a cashier’s check from our credit union made out to the seller & his bank (Fifth Third). Fifth Third wouldn’t clear the cashier’s check for almost 2 weeks! It was absolutely ridiculous. In the meantime, we weren’t able to get a clear title for the car … it sat in our garage, because we couldn’t get it insured until it was in our names. A cashier’s check!!! That’s supposed to be as good as real money (which, by the way, we couldn’t get from the credit union - they wouldn’t give us that much real money).</p>
<p>According to Federal Reserve Board in Compliance with Regulation CC</p>
<p>The following types of deposits must be made available on the first business day following the banking day of deposit (“next-day availability”):</p>
<ol>
<li> Cashier’s, certified, or teller’s checks deposited in person to one of bank’s employees and into an account held by a payee of the check. (Note: If the customer desires next-day availability of funds from these checks, you may require use of a special deposit slip.)</li>
</ol>
<p>The catch to Kelsmom story was that the cashier’s check was made out to multiple parties. That probably negated the reg cc rule for one day availability of funds.</p>
<p>Don’t you have to pay 2-3% on Paypal transactions?</p>
<p>I have no idea if there was any hold at all on the two checks we wrote to purchase a used car from hubby’s co-worker. I suspect & believe it was all fine but they had to wait to get the title back from the lienholder (lessor) before they could sign off & give it to us. I thought the car was insured as an acquired vehicle under our regular insurance but insurer said it wasn’t until we got title. The day after we got the certificate of title, I marched over to the DMV & got it re-registered in our name.</p>
<p>I do feel banks & other institutions take advantage of all of us. :(</p>
<p>Getting back to the OP, who has an account with Wells Fargo. …… </p>
<p>Here is Wells Fargo’s stated policy on “holds” from the website’s FAQ page. Could the problem be that the student’s account is a new one? In that case, he may not have the same problem in the future.</p>
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<p>I don’t know about others but I have learned quite a lot on this thread. I rarely do checks in that large an amount however D #2 had a sketchy employer this summer so the rule was - “CASH the check” and then deposit the cash. Worked every time while others had payroll checks bounce. And I don’t keep large sums of $ in the bank with their checking accts and mine. Savings accts are elsewhere.</p>
<p>2 weeks is excessive. It takes just a few days for a check to get to the issuing bank, and then a few days (at most) to see if the check came back with a stop payment, insufficient funds, or closed accout etc. 10 working days is about as long as it would take a check to clear that I have ever heard.</p>
<p>Sure, they can have “policies”, but egad, 10 days is just not necessary, especially if its one major bank to another.</p>
<p>What they do is sort the checks by bank at night, and the next day it the checks get send to the issuing bank (it may take longer if its say a credit union to a credit union), but BofA to Welss Fargo and back does not take ten days. </p>
<p>They are looking for check kiting with the personal checks, but that still doesn’t take ten days. </p>
<p>If I were the OPs son, i would check with wells fargo daily, very likely the funds will be available before the two weeks are up. He can call the bank he wrote his personal check on and see if it cleared, if so, he can call Wells Fargo. Say if his check cleared in 4 days,no reason in the world to hold funds for another week.</p>
<p>khsstitches, could you explain your Post #32? I don’t understand how your daughter “cashed” the check and then deposited the cash. Where did she cash it, if not the bank? And why did her payroll check not bounce when others did? I must be having one of my senior moments because I’m not following something here …</p>